Green Taxi

At the beginning of this week, while in South Korea, the pollution seemed a bit extreme to me.  I had not seen Seoul look so hazy previously.  Inquiring with friends, I was told the haziness was due to the Yellow Dust that blows from China.

Apparently the Gobi Desert in Northern China and Mongolia gets large springtime winds which blow sand or yellow dust East towards Beijing, Korea, and Japan.  Larger storms can make it across the ocean and even cause haziness in the Western United States.

“In the last decade or so, it has become a serious problem due to the increase of industrial pollutants contained in the dust and intensified desertification in China causing longer and more frequent occurrences.”

It is quite an interesting phenomenon to see, although definitely not healthy.  In the worse of times Korea makes it very clear to its citizens to stay inside and even wear masks.  Apparently 2007 was the worst year on record.  No word so far on how 2008 is shaping up.  Keep an eye on it via a daily tracker from the South Korean Army.

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