BEIJING (AP) – The Chinese capital and a wide swath of the north of the country were engulfed on Monday in the worst sandstorm of the decade, prompting the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
The skyscrapers of central Beijing seemed to fall out of sight between the dust and the sand. Traffic was reduced and more than 400 flights from the capital’s two main airports were canceled before noon.
These storms used to occur regularly in the spring, as sand from the western deserts blew eastward, affecting areas as far north as Japan.
Massive planting of trees and shrubs in fragile areas has reduced the intensity of storms, but the expansion of cities and industries has put constant pressure on the environment throughout China.
The National Meteorological Center predicted that the sand and dust would affect 12 provinces and regions from Xinjiang in the northwest to Heilongjiang in the northeast and the coastal port city of Tianjin.
“This is the most intense sandstorm weather our country has seen in ten years, in addition to covering the wider area,” the center said in a post on its website.
It was unclear whether the storm was related to a recent general decline in air quality despite efforts to end Beijing’s smoky smoke.
The ruling Communist Party has pledged to reduce carbon emissions per unit of economic production by 18% over the next five years. Environmentalists say China needs to do more to reduce its dependence on coal, making it the world’s largest emitter of climate-changing gases.