China says Mongolia main source of severe sandstorms

SINGAPORE — Mongolia was the main source of northern China’s worst sandstorms in five years from January to April, and may have contributed as much as 70 per cent of the dust floating over capital Beijing, China’s environment ministry said Monday.

Northern China is routinely hit by heavy sandstorms in the spring, with conditions worsened by deforestation and higher regional temperatures. It has tried to shield its major cities by planting extensive new forest known as “shelterbelts.”