In China, the annual sandstorms have been exacerbated by desertification.
Agricultural expansion, overgrazing and population growth starting in the 1950s
strained already dry regions in western China. By 2004, 27% of the country's
landmass suffered from some degree of desertification, according to the Chinese
Meteorological Administration. China has invested heavily in planting trees and
small shrubs over former croplands to prevent the spread of arid land eastward.
The government has reported the rate of desertification has slowed after 2000,
but says climate change and other environmental pressures means more than
186,000 square miles (300,000 sq km) of land are still at risk. |
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