Sandstorm Seen from Space

I’m sure you don’t need NASA to tell you the sandstorm earlier this week was pretty bad. The image above does, however, give some idea of the scale of the thing.

The Global Times reported "810,000 square kilometers in six provinces with a combined population of more than 250 million people" were affected by the storm, but as this article on the Discovery News Channel site points out, North and South Korea were also hit by the horrendous amount of dust kicked up by their neighbor. The Korean Herald reported: “the worst-recorded yellow dust storm hit the nation on Saturday, causing the weather agency to issue its first nationwide warning, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.”

The sandstorm reached as far south as Hong Kong, compounding the pollution in the city's less-than-pristine skies.

Let’s hope we get through spring without any more dust blowing our way.