Sand Engulfs Northern China

What’s new: Regions across northern China including Beijing and Inner Mongolia autonomous region are being coated with sand and dust, triggering the first sandstorm warning of this year.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) issued the warning on Wednesday and has kept it up since.

As of Friday afternoon, the concentration level of PM10, fine particles that are damaging to the lungs, reached 544 micrograms per cubic meter in some districts of Beijing, much higher than the one-day average of 45 micrograms per cubic meter level recommended by the World Health Organization.