Yellow Skies

June 28, 2009 | Pulitzer Center

Sean Gallagher, for the Pulitzer Center, China

A severe sandstorm in central Ningxia province shrouds the land in a surreal yellow, almost orange, light. The already dry and degraded topsoil is easily picked up when the spring winds start to blow.

Visibility during a sandstorm is reduced to all but a couple of hundred meters.

A woman protects herself from the airborne sand which has descended on the town of Minfeng in Xinjiang province. The town’s proximity to the Taklamakan desrt means it is regularly bombarded by sandstorms.

People try to go about their daily lives in the town of Minfeng in Xinjiang province, as a sandstorm descends upon their town.

Local life tries to continue even amongst the enveloping sand.

An abandoned military vehicle acts as a photo opportunity at the desert tourist park of Shapotou in Ningxia province. The arrival of a sandstorm brings the park to a standstill however and keeps away the visitors.

A sandstorm envelops farmland as seen from a passing train.

A sandstorm encapsulates a mock castle in the desert tourist park of Shapotou in Ningxia Province. The park is situated on the edges of the Tengger desert hence is regularly bombarded by sandstorms.

A suspension bridge in Ningxia province is engulfed by the storm.

After the sandstorms have passed, evidence of the power of the sands to move are clearly evident.

After the sandstorms have passed, evidence of the power of the sands to move are clearly evident. Whole roads can be swamped and made to disappear if measures are not taken to either clear the sand or prevent its spread.

A street-cleaner cleans up sand that has been deposited overnight during a sandstorm in the town of Hetian in Xinjiang province. Lying on the fringes of the Taklamakan desert, the town is regularly assaulted by sandstorms.

Sandstorms are one of the most visually distinct phenomena associated with the problem of desertification. As the spring winds blow, dry and degraded topsoil is picked up and thrown into the air to be carried in immense clouds of sand and dust. They originate in the northern-central and western desert regions of the country. Moving east, the sandstorms regularly descend upon China's capital Beijing.

In recent years, these same sandstorms have been known to be carried on to South Korea, Japan and even as far as the west coast of the United States. The people of China are becoming increasingly familiar with sandstorms and their ability to bring life to almost a standstill. Daily life continues however as people try to cope with one of the most severe and uncomfortable consequences of increasing desertification.