China "Worst Yellow Dust in the Last 10 Years"... Korea Also Affected Starting Tomorrow

First Yellow Dust Yellow Alert of the Year...Elderly and Weak Advised to Stay Indoors
Visibility Below 1km..."6 to 9 Occurrences Expected This Year"

The view of downtown Beijing turned completely gray due to the influence of yellow dust on the 15th. Photo by Youngshin Cho ascho@asiae.co.kr

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] A severe yellow dust storm, the worst in the past decade, has recently occurred across the Inner Mongolia region of China, covering northeastern areas including Beijing and causing widespread damage. It is feared that this yellow dust will also affect the Korean Peninsula.

On the 15th, according to local Chinese media such as the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP), the China Meteorological Administration issued a yellow dust warning for the first time this year for Inner Mongolia, the three northeastern provinces, and northeastern regions including Beijing and Tianjin. The meteorological agency warned that visibility across the entire northeastern region would drop below 1 km due to the yellow dust. As of 8 a.m. that day, Beijing's real-time Air Quality Index (AQI) reached the maximum value of 500, with pollution levels classified as "severe pollution" (AQI 301?500), SCMP reported.

China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, citing a press release from the meteorological agency, stated, "Due to the influence of a cold front and strong winds, floating sand and dust will sweep across parts of the northeast region including Xinjiang Uygur, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Gansu, Ningxia, Shanxi, Hebei, Beijing, and Tianjin," and advised, "The elderly and children should refrain from going outside." Earlier, the China National Forestry and Grassland Administration predicted that yellow dust would strike northern China 6 to 9 times this year, Xinhua reported.

The low-pressure system in northeastern China is continuing to move eastward, and it is highly likely that the yellow dust will enter the Korean Peninsula region from the early morning of the 16th. There is also concern that additional yellow dust may be generated behind the low-pressure system, potentially affecting the area until the 17th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.