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Sandstorm in China

Sandstorm in China. Issue on Weather & Climate. A news extract.

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Sandstorm in China

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  1. Sandstorm in China Issue on Weather & Climate

  2. A news extract • (18/3/2002) Sandy winds swept Beijing this weekend for the first time this year, forcing residents who hoped to enjoy warm spring weather to cut their plans short. Winds with forces of 5 to 6 on the Beaufort scale were wrapped in dust and dominated the sky in China's capital from late Friday until Sunday. Meteorologists said it would end today.

  3. Questions to think about: • Identify the climatic hazard. (1) • Explain how the climatic elements favour the occurrence of this kind of hazard in winter. (6) • Account for the formation of the hazard. (5) • Describe the effects brought by the hazard. (4) • Suggest some measures to minimize the negative impacts brought by the hazard. (3)

  4. Areas affected by sandstorms Xinjiang Mongolia Gansu

  5. What is the hazard? • It is sandstorm/dust storm. • Tonnes of sands are blown away by strong winds.

  6. Favourable climatic elements for the occurrence of sandstorms • Strong winds are brought by the intense high pressure/anticyclone • which is centred at the continental interior of China/Mongolia • because it is winter in the northern hemisphere • Temperature is lower over land than the sea • Air sinks and high pressure is formed • Winds are out-blowing and strong, • in clockwise directions • Winds are NW, offshore and dry

  7. Another news extract • Reports from the Beijing Meteorological Station said the recent sandstorms were brought by a cold front from Mongolia. It blew fine sand from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shanxi and Hebei provinces all the way to Beijing.

  8. A satellite picture Direction of sandstorm

  9. Formation of sandstorm • Spreading of desert • Low annual rainfall • High temperature in summer • Deforestation • Poor farming methods • Over-cultivation • Over-grazing in some provinces e.g. Mongolia • Lead to the loss of protective layer •  Soil erosion • Loosen soil blown away by strong winds • Causing sandstorms

  10. Effects of sandstorm • Lower visibility in urban area • A lot of dust in the air  dusty weather • Air pollution • Damage crops • Economic loss • Loss of property • Disrupt transport e.g. air/road transport

  11. Solutions • Prevention: to set up warning system to minimize loss • Precaution: afforestation/plant more trees • To prevent soil erosion • Limit grazing over land/limit the no. of herds (animals kept by the farmers) • Introduce scientific farming methods • To prevent the deserts from spreading

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