Gobi in the air

On my last day in Korea, I got a full dose of what has become common spring weather there. When the winds kick up from west to east, sand from the Gobi Desert in China sweeps across the Korean Penninsula. The sky turns yellow, the air feels gritty, and cars get smeared with fine swirls of dust. It was, quite honestly, gross.

This is a result of environmental degradation. China has drained so much of the water from the Gobi region that the desert sand is able to blow away in huge clouds that travel hundreds of miles. If it's bad in Korea, imagine how it is in China just east of the desert. It's one more indication that water is becoming a key resource in the 21st century.