Following the most recent COVID-19 pandemic, people out and about on the streets with a face mask on is no longer an unusual sight. However in East Asian countries, specifically China and Korea, masks has been a necessity way before the COVID times. The reason for this is because cities in both countries suffer from poor air quality with a surprisingly natural origin.

 

Origins of the dust

 

The Yellow Dust that blows over East Asia originates from the arid and semi-arid regions of China, where the Gobi Desert and the Loess Plateau are located (Kar & Takeuchi, 2004). The composition of the particles in the Yellow Dust are mainly sand and soil dust, eroded through aeolian processes (Chung, 1992). During the months of spring (March to May) is when the Yellow Dust occurs. This is because as the weather warms up in the Northern hemisphere, it triggers a change in atmospheric pressure and triggers strong gusty winds as well as extratropical cyclones. These strong weather systems then transports the fine dust particles from the Chinese deserts eastwards towards major Chinese cities as well as Korea and Japan (Chung, 1992).

 

Health implications

The most obvious implications of the Yellow Dust on humans will be the health implications. Similar to the haze we face here in Southeast Asia, the Yellow Dust has particulate of sizes ranging from PM10 to PM2.5, both classified as fine and ultra-fine. PM10 particles are small enough to enter the alveoli in the lungs, while PM2.5 can permeate into the blood and lymphatic system, potentially even reaching the brains and fetal organs (Kang & Kim, 2014). The particles are also irritants, and can worsen existing conditions such as asthma and eczema.

 

Economical impacts

As the dust chokes up the city, it brings about economic downfalls as well, affecting an array of services. Firstly, as the dust is opaque and causes a decrease in visibility. Through a detailed economic analysis by Kang et al. (2004), it was estimated that South Korea’s aviation industry suffered half a million dollars lost in year 2002 from flight cancellations alone. As the dust causes health implications, it can affect productivity of the workforce, and discourage people from going outdoors, affecting various retail industries. the total cost of the Yellow Dust on South Korea in 2002 is estimated to be USD 5,600 million, or USD 117 per South Korean citizen (Jeong, 2008)

 

Any Solutions?

As the origins and causes of the Yellow Dust is inherently natural, it is difficult for governments to mitigate the onslaught of this particular type of air pollution in the city. As such, cities can only adapt through means like implementing cohesive guidelines for the public and monitoring the meteorological events closely to provide quicker alerts to its citizens.

 

References

Chung, Y.-S. (1992). On the observations of yellow sand (Dust storms) in Korea. Atmospheric Environment. Part A. General Topics, 26(15), 2743–2749. https://doi.org/10.1016/0960-1686(92)90010-I

Jeong, D.-Y. (2008). Socio-economic costs from yellow dust damages in south korea. Korean Social Science Journal, 35(2), 1–29. http://journal.kci.go.kr/kssj/archive/articleView?artiId=ART001293655

Kang, D., & Kim, J.-E. (2014). Fine, ultrafine, and yellow dust: Emerging health problems in korea. Journal of Korean Medical Science, 29(5), 621. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2014.29.5.621

Kang, G. G., Chu, J. M., Jeong, H. S. Han, H. J., and Yoo, N. M.(2004). An Analysis of the Damage From YYellow Dust in Northeastern Asia and Regional Cooperation Strategy for Reducing Damage. Seoul: Korea Environment Institute.

Kar, A., & Takeuchi, K. (2004). Yellow dust: An overview of research and felt needs. Journal of Arid Environments, 59(1), 167–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2004.01.010