Monday, March 22, 2010

china in drought and sandstorms

China has warned Beijing residents to avoid going outside as a sandstorm sweeping down from the Gobi desert blankets the area in fine yellow powder.

Many young people are leaving their villages to find work in industrial areas for manual work. 50 million people are struggling to cope. Water is carted in by trucks every few days for drinking water. Crops have failed for almost 1 year. some areas have received 90% less rain fall for this time of year and no rainfall is expected for another 10 days.