Smog and Sand Over Beijing

Thick Smog and Sand Over Beijing. This eastern China’s famed sandstorms clouded the air over Beijing on April 17, 2006. Although the storm swept east from the border region between China and Mongolia and blanketed cities across China with gritty yellow sand. The storm was the eighth and worst such storm of 2006, reported the BBC.

Therefore pollution plumes from Asia can be observed in satellite imagery as they spread far out over the Pacific Ocean.  Also in some instances the plumes reach the western coast of the United States.  Over China, industrial emissions are mainly responsible for the high levels of carbon monoxide.