Yellow Sand

drea: 8th Apr 2006 - 15:53 GMT

That's a good picture (referring to the last one).

chiamattt: 10th Apr 2006 - 00:12 GMT

times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200604/kt2006040917140611950.htm

Carltan : 10th Apr 2006 - 02:15 GMT

yep...us canadians..at least i think, that yellow snow and sand should not be eaten...eh?nice camera pic of the finger..very nice

Peter: 11th Apr 2006 - 16:36 GMT

chia: wow, this is a phenomenon id never know about if you hadnt posted it here. fascinating... now im off to google it and read about it.

imagine... from the gobi desert. thats fascinating.

Tamara: 11th Apr 2006 - 18:01 GMT

Chiamattt, the yellow sand made it to the news at noon in Toronto. Apparently severals cars were badly damaged in China while driving near a toll station, having their winodows smashed due to the force of the wind. Is this just being sensationalized? Or is it really that bad?

Tyfoid Kid: 11th Apr 2006 - 18:09 GMT

I'd heard that China was planting billions of tree. South Korea must be part of this then.

From the ChinaDaily online -
Last year, nearly 560 million people planted more than 2.5 billion trees throughout China. The accumulated efforts of volunteers reached 8.8 billion with more than 42 billion trees planted during the 1982-2003 period, NAC's statistics indicate.

To date, the area with human-planted trees across China has exceeded 46 million hectares, ranking it first in the world.
[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-03/12/content_313964.htm]

shoofly: 15th Apr 2006 - 01:51 GMT

I was in Seoul for my brother's wedding on Saturday, April 9th. I didn't know that the yellow sand was toxic until I got back to the States to read about it, however, many Koreans were wearing masks. The air did bother my eyes and throat a bit- but it wasn't until our photos came back that I could see how hazy it really was.

chiamattt: 28th Apr 2006 - 10:43 GMT

Carltan, the last photo was not taken with my handphone camera. bc

Emma: 17th Mar 2007 - 18:28 GMT

This is exactly the sort of yellow dust I have in Houston right now. I guess it's sulphur fallout of some sort from industry... does anyone know anything about this?

Jackie: 28th Mar 2007 - 09:18 GMT

This is the sort of yellow dust you would find in my neighbours house

LAila: 3rd Apr 2007 - 04:49 GMT

Yeah... my Korean students from Kwangju told me about the yellow sand.
They said they can't go outside because the streets are full of dust.
It will affect their skins and eyes... That's why they have to be
careful!

JULIE B, : 6th Apr 2007 - 16:59 GMT

I AM HERE IN KOREA NOW-4-5-07 AND HAVE BEEN HERE FOR A MONTH AND YES SOME DAYS IF I GO OUTSIDE MY EYES WATER REALLY BAD. THEY HAVE CLOSED THE SCHOOLS AT OSAN AB ONE DAY BECOUSE OF THE YELLOW SAND.

Terry: 9th Apr 2007 - 16:08 GMT

Funny thing is that Gobi and Takia deserts gets larger and larger. Tyfoid, think about how many trees would be cut off if each chinese use toilet paper. There are about 1.5 billion ppl. Though they plant trees, it won't make any better situation

Adriana: 19th Sep 2007 - 01:59 GMT

Thats scary to see and to think that it might get worse ! thats terrible. The trees that are being planted aren't working they are falling over or just getting covered with sand. i hope it gets better, for everyones well being.

saffo: 9th Mar 2008 - 11:48 GMT

When I was studying in Beijing there were several sandstorms during spring time. Students from my university voluntered to plant trees north of Beijing. I planted four.

chiamattt: 24th Mar 2008 - 02:27 GMT

Looks like they're building a fence, not planting trees. haha

mopey: 6th May 2008 - 08:52 GMT

can you believe that the ARMY makes us run in it all the time? haha

got_seoul: 14th Apr 2009 - 15:05 GMT

Yea, time to wear your dust mask, or even better... why not try on one of those rediculous masks that the subway in seoul has (locked) up in a cabinet in every station - I think I saw at least maybe three of them in a cabinet?? You would think if Koreans wouldn't abuse their own culture by deforesting everything that they have little of they and think about where they are planting those poor trees that will soon die. And why is this city only nice to look at at night? .. Who ever thinks that Seoul is a beutiful city prob has never been out of Korea. That goes for the stupid hair styles and boring fashion that koreans lack of.That's why everyone looks the same. Has anyone seen the locked up dogs yet that are in those ice cream freezers hat you buy your ice cream from?.. Well, they are in every part of town down in the darkest alleys you will find a real dog that was recently skinned alive and locked up during the winter. I would suggest to not eat anything from one of those, also never eat anything you buy off the street.. Nothing is washed, even those soju tents are filthy up the you know what, and you never know how many flies have been landing on your tofu! Watch out, Koreans will eat anything!

anon (CPE001cdf0fd255-CM00407b8776de.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com): 14th May 2009 - 21:14 GMT

Where do all of the sand go to? I wonder if it all seeps away into a large ocean or some sort. Haha, but that does seem to work, although I think sand bars would gradually build up in the shores.
It is fascinating how the gobi desert is blown with massive air currents (I suppose) and it's sand thrush out throughout Korea. Korea is a small country afterall.

Eric: 20th Oct 2009 - 00:01 GMT

Actually, there are some cycles built around sand from the land getting to the oceans. It furnishes nutrients like iron that the phytoplankton live on. That's why some people have suggested using iron rich dusting of the oceans to help sequester CO2, the phytoplankton that isn't eaten settles to the bottom of the ocean when it dies and so the CO2 is removed from the atmosphere.

Part of the problem for Seoul isn't that it's getting worse, it goes in cycles. The problem is that China is polluting it's air by burning coal for power in ever larger quantities. The pollutants from that adhere to the sand, and makes the sand more dangerous and irritating in general when Koreans breathe it in.

Personally, I like it warmer.

laR: 16th Nov 2009 - 21:32 GMT

got_seoul, I say you got none. Seoul IS a beautiful city. The parks there loom above the rest of the city!!! What about the palaces and the gates? What about the temple? What about Insadong and Cheonggyecheon, the Joseon burial site? Get your ass out of Itaewon! There's more to Seoul than little Alabama!