The image above shows the encroaching sanddunes engulfing the village of Langtougou. The village is just 160 km north of Beijing and its inhabitants survive on subsistence crops and raising horses, goats and pigs. In 2000 violent sandstorms dumped entire dunes into the once-fertile Fengning county valley, now most of the grass is gone and the Chaobai River stands dry. Sand from the distant Gobi desert threatens even Beijing, which some scientists say could be silted over within a few years. Dunes forming just 70 km from the capital may be drifting south at 20-25 km a year, although conservative estimates say 3 km a year.
Firewood collection (32.4%), excessive grazing (30%) and over-cultivation (23.3%) are the main factors in causing the desertification in northern China, according to a study by Chinese researcher Ning Datong. In order to combat these problems, new regulations have banned the collection of firewood and the agricultural practices on which the village relies; now villages rely on manure as their primary fuel source and promises of rice and money from the government. Others suggest that increasing drought in the region is to blame.
In the northwest, where the biggest problems lie, desertification has escalated from 1,560 sq km annually in the 1970s to 2,100-2,400 sq km in the 1990s. A Ministry of Science and Technology task force says desertification costs China about $2-3 billion annually, while 800 km of railway and thousands of kilometres of roads are blocked by sedimentation. An estimated 110 million people suffer from the impacts of desertification. Following current trends, another 2,500 sq km will turn to desert each year.
So far nothing the government has done has come close to stopping the advance of the deserts across China's vast landscape. In 2006 there were a number of unusually strong sandstorms in northern China, which some meteorologists say is, in part, a result desertification. Cities such as Beijing have days in which sand fills the air, blocking the sun and creating long-lasting health hazards, maybe this will be enough to spur the government to the necessary action.
