March 28, 2002
(Clearwisdom.net) According to the March 22nd report from Xinhua News Agency of Beijing, the sand storm that lasted from March 20th to the 22nd in Beijing had blown around about 30,000 tons of sand and dust. If one were to distribute that amount to every citizen in Beijing, each one would have an average of 3 kilograms (One kilogram equals 2.205 lbs) of dirt per person.
Dong Xuhui of the Central Environmental Agency's "Sand Storm Investigation Agency" presented his report on March 22nd. He stated that this was the longest and strongest sand storm that Beijing had been hit with in the last decade or so. Most of the dust came from outside Beijing and covered 29 grams per square meter (One gram equals 0.035ounces). If one were to apply this to the area of the city of Beijing (1,040 square kilometers, or 401.44 square miles), then the total amount of dust accumulated in the city would be 30,000 tons. According to radar scans of the storm, the storm entered Beijing around 3 a.m. on the 20th and lasted until 6 a.m. on the 22nd, for a total of 51 hours. The density of the storm was heaviest around 11:15 a.m. on the 20th, and visibility was only 200 meters (One meter equals 3.2810 feet). The concentration of dust particles in the air was 11 milligrams per cubic meter, which is 40 times the nation's average level.
