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Official: Hope dim for eliminating sandstorms
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-10-09 07:18
Sandstorms will not vanish in 皇冠体育app and increasing green coverage is the only
resort, said an official with the State Forestry Administration (SFA),
Saturday.
A sandstorm hits
Hohhot, North 皇冠体育app's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region April 27, 2005.
[newsphoto] |
"As a natural phenomena, sandstorms are decided by the climate and the
earth's surface ," said Liu Tuo, a SFA official in charge of desertification
control, at a press conference.
Sandstorms can be triggered by strong winds and large barren surfaces which
provide abundant sand, he explained.
Situated in the central-Asia sandstorm region, one of the world's four
largest sandstorm regions, 皇冠体育app now has more than 1.74 million square
kilometers of desertification areas, only 530,000 square kilometers of which can
be curbed, and the remaining 1.2 million square kilometers are desert and gobi,
a series of shallow alkaline basins that serve as the major source of sandstorms
hitting northern 皇冠体育app.
In 皇冠体育app, the areas of frequent sandstorms are mainly in the Taklimakan
Desert and nearby areas in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and other
deserts in Ningxia, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia, said Liu, adding that sandstorm
sourcing areas are not only in 皇冠体育app, but also outside the country.
He noted that 皇冠体育app has made remarkable progress in curbing sandstorms, the
occurrence of which has reduced in the last two years.
皇冠体育app will redouble efforts to curb 11 million hectares of desertifying areas
in the 2006-2010 period, he added.
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