SAND-AGEDDON

Who would ever want to live in this godforsaken country?

Via RT

‘Sand-ageddon’: Chinese capital hit by worst sand storm in decade

A tourist gestures as she poses for a photograph at Tiananmen Square during a sandstorm in Beijing, April 15, 2015 (Reuters / China Daily)

A tourist gestures as she poses for a photograph at Tiananmen Square during a sandstorm in Beijing, April 15, 2015 (Reuters / China Daily)

Traffic came to a standstill during rush hour in Beijing on Wednesday as a massive sandstorm covered the Chinese capital in thick blanket of red dust, making internet users speak about the end of the world.

The China Meteorological Administration issued a yellow sandstorm alert – the third-most serious danger level – warning about a drop in visibility to less than 1,000 meters and increased air pollution.

Some areas in the city of 21 million recorded air pollution of nearly 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter, which is considered hazardous for people’s health.

A couple wearing masks kiss along a street during a sandstorm in Beijing, April 15, 2015 (Reuters / China Daily)

A couple wearing masks kiss along a street during a sandstorm in Beijing, April 15, 2015 (Reuters / China Daily)

Beijing residents had to wear face masks and goggles to protect themselves from the red sand and avoid injury and respiratory problems.

The bad visibility seriously disrupted traffic, causing large traffic jams all over the capital.

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Chinese internet users were quick to label the weather phenomenon ‘Sand-ageddon,’ comparing it to the end of the world.

“It’s very dirty, I feel like it is the end of the world,” one of the users was cited by South China Morning Post.

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While another person on social networks wrote that “it feels like we are living in a desert. I wonder how we can survive such bad weather.”

Despite being far from the red danger level, Wednesday’s sand storm was the strongest in the Chinese capital in 13 years.

View image on Twitter View image on Twitter

Besides Beijing, 11 other provinces in the north of the country were impacted by the storm, which led to electricity blackouts and chaos on the roads.

Sandstorms are a common event in China in the spring, with the dust originating from the outer edge of deserts in Mongolia, northern China and the Hexi Corridor.

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Beijing is considered among the most polluted cities in the planet, with environmental watchdog Chinese Hazardous saying on Thursday that air particles, which cause asthma and breathing problems, were more than double the national target in the capital.

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Dutchman
Dutchman

Couldn’t happen to a nicer place.

IndenturedServant

We get dust storms like that about once per year. Dirt is so thick in the air you can taste it and feel it between your teeth. It’s really cool watching it come in like a giant wave but plays hell with my asthma.

Back when I was doing concrete work I noticed that jobs done on dust storm days would be permanently “stained” as the dirt was incorporated in the surface of the concrete. It was very apparent if you poured concrete on more than one day on the same job.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Did you get asthma from the concrete mix? I never had breathing problems until I started mixing thinset and grout.

IndenturedServant

I don’t think so but who knows. I always wore a good particle mask that sealed completely when dry sacking, grinding or cutting. I think it was caused by black mold in a building I demo-ed. I could see high in the rafters that they were black which I assumed was black from a previous fire but it turned out to be black mold. I also smoked for almost 20 years but quit several years before the asthma appeared. Luckily it’s extremely mild. I’ve never had an acute attack.

EL Coyote
EL Coyote

Several years ago, I went to see the doc at Kaiser about a bad cough. He said, do you have asthma, you have a whistle sound along with that cough. Sure enough I developed asthma later.

He also asked if I had diabetes long before any symptoms surfaced. He told me, ‘I’m a little suspicious when someone tells me their brother or sister has diabetes but they don’t.’

Stucky

“I don’t think so but who knows. I always wore a good particle mask …” —- I_S

Weird. I was just thinking of particle masks a couple days ago.

So, we’re tidying up the joint in preparation for The Visit. Apparently, the house MUST be spic-and-span clean when Precious (Ms Freud’s daughter) comes to visit. I have my can of lemon scented pledge, and I think to myself ‘Holy Shit, this place is a dirty dump!’. Now, I say ‘Holy shit’, because we just dusted thoroughly two motherfuckin’ weeks ago!!! And I think to myself, “Breathing in all this shit can’t be good!”.

So, I briefly thought ‘Maybe I should wear a particle mask?’. Briefly. I don’t wanna look like those Peking Chinks.

EL Coyote
EL Coyote

OTOH, you don’t want to look like a peaking duck later.

Thinker

On the other hand, sand storms are happening everywhere — which is itself quite unusual.

Mystery of the dust storms sweeping the world: Experts baffled by spate of ‘haboobs’ which have brought travel chaos and turned day into night in cities thousands of miles from deserts

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3043849/Mystery-surrounds-spate-huge-dust-storms-world-year-grounded-flights-blotted-sun.html#ixzz3Xn32Swc6

IndenturedServant

I’m not so sure these are increasing. I remember experiencing them in TX, CO, MT, Spain, and WA. I was too young to remember but I’m certain the happened in NM. I’ve had friends and family stationed in the middle east who experienced multiple dust storms during their time there. I’ve been an amateur astronomer for almost twenty years and dust storms all over the northern hemisphere interfere with astronomical seeing conditions. Dust storms even obscure features on Mars nearly every year.

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