Recently, many friends in Guangzhou may be wondering: "Isn't it warm and rainy here?" Why is it dark and the nose is itchy, and when you go out, it's like entering a flour mill? That's right, this wave of "eating ashes" incident, the pot is not at your own doorstep, but from thousands of miles away - Mongolia.

What's even more exaggerated is that this is not the first time that Mongolia's dust is frequenting China as a "regular visitor of the year", especially in the south, which we thought was safe. What the hell is going on? Are we really going to keep eating like this?

Why does the sand of Mongolia float so far?

Don't think that sandstorms are just "springs only" for northerners. Now the southerners also have to join the "ash sucking alliance".

就比如2023年3月，一場大規模沙塵襲擊了我國28個省市，從北京、太原一直影響到了廣州、深圳、甚至香港。而北京那次，PM10一度飆到9000微克/立方米（正常標準50），空氣“厚”得能切片，堪比灰燼風暴開大會。

According to China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment, nearly half of the dust came from desertification in central Mongolia.

In other words, these "imported sand" are not petty fights, but cross-border "sand and dust exports"!

Some studies even pointed out that in the process of sand and dust in northern China in 60~0 years, 0%~0% originated from the Mongolian Plateau, which is no longer "occasional visits", but "fixed relatives in spring".

How did Mongolia suddenly become a "sand and dust maker"? ”

Many people may still be stuck in the impression of "Mongolia = steppe + Genghis Khan + mutton".

But the reality is that almost 4% of Mongolia's land is already desertified! More than 0/0 of them are severe desertification, which means that a strong wind can blow a sand and dust package.

What the hell is going on?

1. There are too many livestock, and the grassland can't bear it

1990年蒙古國的牲畜總量是2600多萬頭，而到了2022年，這個數字達到了7100多萬頭。草長得再快，也架不住這樣“無腦放牧”式吃法。很多草原根系被啃沒了，地表裸露，一旦乾旱來臨，風一吹就飛沙走石。

2. The mining area has increased dramatically, and the mining is not repaired

Mongolia's economy is highly dependent on mining exports. In 10 years, the mining area of the country was less than 0 square kilometers, and now it has exceeded 0 square kilometers, an increase of more than 0 times.

Many mines do not backfill or green after mining, leaving a large area of bare land, which is a veritable "birthplace of sand and dust".

3. Climate deterioration + weak policies

In recent years, Mongolia has experienced frequent extreme drought years, with rising temperatures and decreasing precipitation. The United Nations IPCC predicts that the number of drought and sandstorm days in Mongolia will increase by more than 30% in the next 0 years.

再加上蒙古環保投入少，全境GDP不過150億美元，環保年預算還不到5000萬美元，治理根本跟不上環境惡化的速度。

China has worked hard, but it can't prevent "other people's sand"

Don't say that we didn't work hard, China launched the "Three-North Shelterbelt Project" as early as 1978 years, which is commonly known as the "Great Green Wall".

截至目前，已經造林超過12億畝，構建起全球最大的人造林體系。

According to the data of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, in the past 2400 years, China's desertified land has decreased by 0 square kilometers per year, and it is the "only major country in the world that has successfully reversed desertification" named and praised by the United Nations.

But - what if China can plant forests, but what if neighboring countries don't plant trees?

2023年春季的13次沙塵過程里，有7次直接來自蒙古國境內！ 也就是說，就算我們自己這邊不刮沙，對面也能“輸送”灰塵過來。

It's like mopping the floor and planting flowers every day, but your neighbors splash muddy water outside the wall every day - no matter how capable you are, you can't prevent the source from getting out of control.

Mongolia either doesn't want to be governed, or it really can't be governed

Don't think that Mongolia is "lying flat", in fact, they are also anxious. Desertification also has a huge impact on themselves, with grassland degradation, livestock death, climate extremes...... But the problem is, there's really no money!

據亞洲開發銀行估算，想治理蒙古荒漠化問題，每年至少要投入3億美元起步。而蒙古財政加起來，也就那點規模，光靠自己根本吃不消。

We've actually helped.

For example, in 15 years, China and Mongolia launched the "Great Green Wall" cooperation project and provided ecological management loans, but many areas did not even build basic nurseries, and the joint assessment in 0 years found that the overall progress was less than 0%.

Therefore, it cannot be completely said that they "do not act", but only that they "have a weak heart and cannot be cured".

If Mongolia is not governed, how many years will China eat ashes?

According to the research analogy of the Institute of Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, if the desertification trend in Mongolia remains unchanged, the central and eastern parts of China will be affected by 4~0 cross-border sand and dust every year by around 0 years.

In the past, the pattern of "the north eats ashes and the south is fresh" may become "the whole country swallows sand together".

At that time, Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai may all wear masks, close doors and windows, and hide from dust in the spring, just like Beijing. And this trend is not "in a few decades", but something that will happen in the next ten years!

What's even more frightening is that this dust transport can also affect weather patterns, atmospheric circulation, and even cause longer-term ecological impacts such as acid rain and soil pollution.

Write at the end

We often think that environmental problems are "our own business", but in this era of the global village, it is actually a "global sitting". Mongolia's sandstorms are not the first time they have affected China, and they will not be the last.

Whether we can "keep the blue sky" in the future depends not only on how hard we work to plant trees, but also on whether our neighbors have the heart and strength to "block the sand" with us. Therefore, this is not a fate of "watching the sky and eating ashes", but an ecological challenge of transnational collaboration.

In the final analysis, the earth belongs to everyone, and the wind and sand do not recognize national borders, and we cannot fight alone, nor can we "be alone". Building a green barrier may be the only way for us to avoid "eating ashes and eating for a lifetime".