每年春季，北方的城市几乎都要经历这样一次颇为头疼的沙尘暴（sandstorm, dust storm）。从3月19日开始，一股沙尘暴袭击北京、河南、山东等16省区，大部地区天空昏黄，能见度（visibility）低，空气质量（air quality）明显下降。

       沙尘频繁肆虐，表明沙漠化（desertification）程度在加剧。尽管经过多年来的治理，我国土地沙化防治工作取得了积极进展，但局部地区沙漠化仍在扩展则是不争的事实。在一些地方，滥垦（over-cultivation）、滥伐（deforestation）、滥牧（overgrazing）、滥用水资源（over-use of water resources）现象依然严重。我们必须认识到，治理沙尘和土地荒漠化，并不是一朝一夕的事情。

Dust sweeps through Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing on Saturday as North China reeled under a huge sandstorm. [China Daily]

       请看相关报道：

The sky across North China turned dark yellow over the weekend as the biggest sandstorm this year offered a grim reminder of the impact of the country's worsening desertification.

...

In Beijing, residents woke on Saturday morning to find the city's streets blanketed by yellow dust. According to the National Meteorological Center, the sand traveled from deserts in the Mongolian People's Republic and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

China's national weather bureau gave the air quality a rare 5 rating - "heavily polluted" - and visibility was so bad that several flights had to be delayed at Beijing Capital International Airport, according to staff. The high-speed rail service between Beijing and Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, was also suspended for about two hours.

—— Excerpt from Desert storm blankets N. China

Australians living in the eastern states are bracing themselves for another dust storm similar to one that blanketed Sydney and Brisbane earlier this week, according to a report on Friday by News Ltd.

—— Excerpt from Australian bureau warns second dust storm likely