China's capital, Beijing, has been struck by the worst sandstorm in ten years. The phenomenon brought with it a dense orange-yellowish blanket that covered the city and caused an unprecedented spike in air pollution readings, with levels 160 times higher than the recommended limit.

The storm worsens Beijing's air pollution

The sand was carried by strong winds from China's Inner Mongolia region, then spreading into the provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi and Hebei, all the way to Beijing. According to local authorities, six people died as a result of the storm in neighbouring Mongolia and dozens remain missing. Air traffic was halted at Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, and more than four hundred flights were grounded in the Chinese capital. The dense blanket of sand reduced visibility to 1,000 metres and worsened Beijing's already extremely high air pollution levels.

Sandstorms are a fairly common phenomenon between March and April, caused by winds crossing the Gobi Desert, located in central Asia between Mongolia and China. However, a storm of this magnitude had not been recorded for years.

Jinfeng Zhou @Zhou_jinfeng

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People are recording the sand storm this morning in #Beijing... #weather

♥ 239💬 21 15 mar 2021 · Apri su X →

The index that measures air quality in real time (AQI) indicated a hazard level of "999" during Monday (above 300 is considered dangerous to human health). By way of comparison, at the same moment major cities such as Tokyo and New York were recording pollution levels of 42 and 26 respectively.

In Beijing, levels of PM10 particulate matter, which is harmful to the respiratory tract, reached 800 micrograms per cubic metre, 160 times above the limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), which considers air pollution levels of 0–54 "good" and 55–154 "moderate". Recorded levels of PM2.5, an even more dangerous particulate due to its smaller size, reached 600 micrograms in many parts of the city, well above the 25 micrograms concentration recommended by the WHO.

Chinese meteorological authorities issued an alert. In Beijing, which has approximately 20 million inhabitants, all outdoor sporting activities in schools were suspended and people with respiratory problems were advised to stay at home. The BBC's correspondent, Stephen McDonnell, wrote that pollution levels would continue to be high on Tuesday as well.

Environmental and health emergency in the Chinese megalopolis

According to WHO estimates, air pollution is linked to heart attacks, cardiovascular and respiratory problems, and lung cancer, which together kill approximately 4.2 million people worldwide every year. Around 91 per cent of the world's population lives in places where air pollution levels exceed the limits considered safe by the United Nations agency itself. "Beijing is a symbol of an ecological crisis. After two weeks of smog and stagnant air, strong winds have brought a sandstorm, sending pollution indices soaring. It's hard to say we are making progress if we can't see what's in front of us," wrote Li Shuo, climate adviser at Greenpeace China, on Twitter.

Li Shuo_ASPI @LiShuo_GP

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Beijing is what an ecological crisis looks like. After two weeks of smog and static air, strong wind carries a sand storm in, sending AQI off the chart. It’s hard to claim we are moving forward when you can’t see what’s in front.

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Deforestation in northern China and land consumption are among the factors that contributed to the severity of the sandstorm. From last Sunday onwards, the Chinese capital — already one of the most polluted cities in the world — and much of northern China were hit by high levels of smog, also linked to increased output from heavy industry to support the country's post-pandemic economic recovery. According to the monitoring programme of the United States embassy in China, air pollution levels in Beijing over the past week were classified as ranging between "hazardous" and "very hazardous".