Those waking up in China's northern provinces on March 15 would have been forgiven for thinking they'd been transported to a completely different planet. Their cities were engulfed in thick orange smog, the likes of which had not been seen for a decade.

Brought on by severe sandstorms from neighboring Mongolia, according to the National Meteorological Center, the epic storms brought traffic, flights and even schools to a close as people tried to deal with the hazardous conditions.

In downtown Beijing, the average concentration of dangerous airborne PM10 particles, fine particles with a diameter of 10 micrometers, topped 8,000 micrograms per cubic meter­, far above the recommended exposure limit. Levels of PM2.5, which is inhalable and one of the most harmful air pollutants, rose to 600 micrograms in many parts of the city.

The freakish storm covered nearly an eighth of China's territory, and continued to cause problems three days later.

Extreme events 

As the dust finally settles, quite literally in some cities, the inquest into why the storms were so severe and long-lasting has begun.

Zhou Bing, chief expert at the China Meteorological Administration's National Climate Center, said strong winds and a dry winter contributed to the sandstorm's severity. Like most recent instances of extreme weather, Zhou noted that "rising temperatures" played a key role in the storm's ferocity.

It follows a pattern of rising extreme weather events that scientists say are occurring more frequently and severely than ever before. This year was only three months in when instances of extreme weather already occurred in the United States, Europe, and now China. In 2020, forest fires, floods and droughts occurred with frightening regularity.

Fundamental to this increase, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), has been the significant rise in global temperatures, with 2020 confirmed as the second warmest on record by American scientific agency the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Seven of the world's warmest years have now occurred since 2014, according to the agency, with last year's coming despite the world's industrial output falling to record lows due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The damage caused by these bouts of extreme weather has, as the WMO stated in its latest annual report, become more severe, accounting for high death tolls and economic damage.

Floods in China last year caused 279 deaths and various natural disasters incurred 370.2 billion yuan ($56.7 billion) in economic losses, while droughts in Brazil were responsible for agricultural losses of almost $3 billion. Australia's bushfires, some of the largest in its history, decimated over 8 million hectares, resulting in 25 human deaths and 500 million animal fatalities as of January 8, 2020.

Given the strong link between rising temperatures and extreme weather events, scientists are asking governments worldwide to make an immediate and concerted effort to reduce their carbon emissions, encouraging them to set strict targets.

China has taken on greater responsibility to lower its emissions. Last year it announced it will become carbon neutral by 2060, a move which climate-change watcher Climate Action Tracker believes could lower global warming projections by around 0.2 to 0.3 degree Celsius—the biggest single reduction ever estimated by it.

To do this, the authorities have initiated a radical overhaul in key areas, including how the country produces energy. Years of investment have turned China into a leader in renewable energy technologies, including solar panels and wind turbines. China's renewable energy capacity now makes up nearly 30 percent of the world's total, while it plans to increase its share of non-fossil fuel energy to 25 percent by 2030.

The government has become tougher on businesses and enterprises that do not comply with environmental targets, initiating fines and prison sentences. In Tangshan, Hebei Province, located 190 km east of Beijing, the leaders of at least four steel and iron enterprises were detained for a minimum of 15 days and fined for fabricating and deleting information on production records after failing to reduce their pollutant discharge as instructed. 

Thinking greener

Changing the energy mix alone however will not bring temperatures down sufficiently to ensure extreme weather becomes less severe.

Scientists continue to warn that people must also live radically differently if emission targets are to be met. This includes transportation, one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs), accounting for one fifth of all global carbon dioxide emissions. It's a sector Chinese authorities have earmarked for emission reduction as soon as possible.

Cutting emissions caused by personal vehicle usage, which accounted for 48 percent of China's transport emissions last year, is essential to achieving this. The government is promoting the use of public transport and also encouraging consumers to switch to new-energy vehicles (NEVs).

China's NEV market now accounts for nearly 50 percent of all NEVs sold in the world, selling 1.3 million units last year, up from 1.1 million in 2019. This is expected to grow to 1.8 million sales this year, with the government hopeful NEVs will make up 20 percent of all auto sales by 2025.

More and more Chinese consumers are embracing greener habits, shopping locally or sorting their rubbish. Private companies have sprung up offering organic or green services, such as garbage-sorting company Ai Fenlei, which offers to collect rubbish in the Beijing area, and then sort and send it to recycling companies.

Future risks 

Globally, however there is still a lot of work to be done. While the 2020 emissions were their lowest in years due to the pandemic, GHG levels are climbing back to pre-pandemic levels.

Coal power, regarded as the most destructive fossil fuel for the environment, is expected to rebound this year, with countries such as China, the UK and the U.S. exploring plans to open more coal mines as prices for natural gas increase, and the need to get state economies moving again becomes more urgent.

Despite many state economies continuing to be closed, this winter—December 2020 to February 2021—was the eighth warmest since records began, and the 45th consecutive year that winter temperatures were above average, making the chance of more extreme weather over the year a distinct and dangerous possibility.

The recent sandstorms may not have been the most destructive extreme weather event to hit this year, but they were a spectacular example of what happens when rises in global temperatures and emissions remain unchecked. And while some in north China were able to see the funny side of a murky orange morning, just as some Europeans enjoyed the unseasonal snow that hit their streets, the long-term implications of extreme weather are more problems, greater economic hardships and ultimately, more deaths.

(Print Edition Title: ORANGE ALERT)  

The author is a columnist with Cnfocus.com 

Copyedited by Sudeshna Sarkar 

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