Plans for a multi-country program
to combat annual yellow dust storms over Japan and Korea have been called
off after China refused to provide assistance.
Previously, Mongolia and China
announced they would work with South Korea and Japan to seek solutions
to this annual problem.
The yellow dust originates
in the desserts of Mongolia and China and are carried by winds to Japan
and South Korea. Both serious health and manufacturing problems are
blamed on the dust.
However, since signing earlier
agreements to help with the problem, China has announced that it will
not be able to provide weather information about desert areas as this
data is considered a state secret.
As most of the dust originates
in China, the project may be useless without their participation.
The four participating countries
were to create systems to predict how much dust was being sent from
Mongolia and China. However, China has announced that it will not allow
any meteorological equipment into its country to assist in collecting
this data.
Since 2000, officials believe
the number of days when yellow sand was observed has rapidly increased.
They blame the increase in yellow dust on increased deforestation and
desertification caused by excessive livestock breeding
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