Asian Dust

Also known as Asian Sand, Yellow Dust, Yellow Wind... and others. This season lasts for about 5 months and it can reach dangerous levels. Here is a little background I googled for you...

Asian Dust is a seasonal meteorological phenomenon which affects much of East Asia sporadically during the springtime months. The dust originates in the deserts of Mongolia and northern China and Kazakhstan where high-speed surface winds and intense dust storms kick up dense clouds of fine, dry soil particles. These clouds are then carried eastward by prevailing winds and pass over China, North and South Korea, and Japan, as well as parts of the Russian Far East. Sometimes, the airborne particulates are carried much further, in significant concentrations which affect air quality as far east as the 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, as well as in the last few decades when the Aral Sea of Kazakhstan started drying up due to a failed Soviet agricultural scheme.




I was warned about Asian Dust when we couldn't work out outside. You can taste the metal and dust in the air. And see a yellow haze in the sky as it settles over Seoul. Many locals wear face masks to filter the air.

Just a little insight to where I live!

-Sam-