The Truth of the Yellow Sand Phenomenon

2523 임다영

    It’s springtime, when cherry blossom flowers bloom and warm our hearts. It’s springtime, when the skies which are supposed to be blue are yellow and many people start suffering from various diseases that are caused by the yellow sand. Why does this terrible phenomenon which colors our skies yellow and makes people go through bad times with their health happen, and how can we react to this matter?

    The Yellow Sand Phenomenon in Korea starts in the deserts of China and Mongolia, including the Gobi Desert. The amount of precipitation in these areas are less than 400mm per year which makes these areas especially dry. Among the dust and the sand that are made in these areas, 30% settle down in the area they started, 20% fly to areas nearby these dry areas, and 50% fly to countries nearby, including Korea and Japan. The particles of these yellow sand are really small, which helps these particles fly long distances. This phenomenon usually happens in spring because the dry desert sand which was frozen during the winter starts thawing and breaks the sand into smaller pieces, which makes the sand lighter and easier to fly.

    The impact that citizens of Korea get because of this phenomenon is phenomenal. Seeing this matter in a bigger scale, the Korean economy gets impacted because Korean industries are closely related to precision machines. Precision machines need to be treated carefully and many companies spend a lot of time not to get these machines exposed to even a small amount of dust. However, this phenomenon brings a huge amount of dust and sand into Korea, and after the Yellow Sand covers the Korean sky, it turned out that defected products increased. Not only that, there are health issues that occur because of the Yellow Sand Phenomenon. People are vulnerable to respiratory diseases and eye problems because of the small dust particles that can come into our bodies.