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A resident in Harbin wears a mask to protect against dust for both himself and his pet. |
At 6 AM on March 10, a resident of Harbin, Li Wei, discovered that the sky was not as clear as the previous day.
To his surprise, from the sixth floor, he could see the entire city shrouded in a thick layer of dust.
According to information from the Meteorological Station, starting from March 9, dust storms began to appear in Mongolia, the Inner Mongolia desert, Gansu Province, and Henan Province, gradually moving eastward to Liaoning and Jilin by March 10.
This air mass also reached counties and cities in Heilongjiang Province, including Harbin. By the afternoon of March 10, the dust storm had exited Heilongjiang, but a heavy snowfall also appeared in the southwestern part of the province.
This “dust outbreak” caused pollution levels in Beijing to rise from moderate (level 2) to severe (level 5) within five days. People here could even smell the “scent” of dust spreading in the air. This is also the largest dust storm recorded so far as spring begins in northern China.
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Beijingers face “pollution” |
According to a survey by the Air Quality Monitoring Station, the concentration of inhaled dust particles peaked at 2500 mg of dust per cubic meter of air and gradually decreased to about 500 mg/m3 by the afternoon of March 10.
According to the latest data from the Meteorological Station on March 11, a cold air mass entered Beijing with north winds of level 5 to 6. As a result, the climate there became clearer and less hazy.
Although the dust will dissipate within the next few days, the gradually decreasing temperatures (5°C in the morning and -3°C at night) and cold winds have made the city’s climate quite dry. Meteorological experts have also advised residents to stay hydrated and regularly moisturize their skin.
THE HA
