Orange Skies

Can you imagine waking up and the sky being orange? That’s what residents in and around China’s capital of Beijing did on Saturday.

USA Today reported yesterday that the sandstorm was the worst so far this year. Affecting regions as far as “the regions of Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia and the provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Hebei.”

“Chun Youngsin, a researcher at the Korea Meteorological Administration, said the yellow dust was expected to hit the Korean peninsula beginning Saturday afternoon and it would be "the worst yellow dust" this year,” according to the USA Today article.

The sandstorms come from the vast desert that covers about a third of the country and despite conservation efforts; experts think that it will take decades to reduce the number of sandstorms that hit the country. Even residents understand the need for conservation, USA Today talked to Shi Chunyan, a Beijing resident, who said, "I think this kind of natural disaster is caused by human activity, but I don't know the exact reason, and I don't know exactly what we can do to prevent this.”

Image from USA TODAY