The challenges of combating desertification are enormous.
Dust-sand storms do not originate in China alone and they do not stop at the Chinese borders. While China has made fruitful efforts in controlling desertification, collaboration with neighboring countries in Northeastern and Central Asia is required in order to effectively halt the process of widespread desertification.
Affected by the cold air from central Asia, large areas of China saw dusty weather and were hit by sandstorms on Thursday. Dust storms are highly correlated with human activities and climate changes. The storms typically happen in the spring, as strong winds send soil and sand from the Gobi Desert over northern China and even the Korean Peninsula. Generally speaking, dust storms have reduced in most regions of China from the 1950 to 2000. A dust storm has enveloped a swathe of northern China, dragging down air quality and visibility and prompting warnings for children and old people to stay indoors. The number of dust events recorded in northern China stands at four in 2018, the NMC said, noting that this was slightly below the average for the period of 4.4 in the last 10 years. Dust storms are highly correlated with human activities and climate changes.