What is the function of sandstorm in ecosystem?

"Advantages" of Sandstorm from the Perspective of Earth Environment

March 23rd is World Meteorological Day every year, and the theme of World Meteorological Day in 2006 is "Disaster Prevention and Mitigation". Since March, most parts of northern China have been hit by sandstorms many times. The prediction of sandstorm occurrence trend in northern China by National Climate Center of China Meteorological Bureau and Desertification Monitoring Center of State Forestry Administration shows that the number of sandstorm weather processes in China in 2006 will be more than that in 2005.

China Academy of Sciences and Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's major scientific and technological cooperation project "Study on the Formation, Transport Mechanism and Climate Effect of Wind-borne Dust (2000-2005)" said in an interview that dust storms are basically natural phenomena like wind, rain, thunder and electricity, and their occurrence must meet the following two basic conditions: ① Material basis, that is, the source of dust, such as desert. ② Climate and weather conditions, such as unstable atmospheric conditions such as frontal process and strong wind. We can't imagine a sandstorm at sea or in windless weather.

Sandstorms in Central Asia, Mongolia, Northwest China and Inner Mongolia not only bring serious soil wind erosion and environmental problems to the source area, but also have an important impact on the environment and air quality in the downstream areas (North China and East China, South Korea and Japan). What the general public is most concerned about is that the increase of inhalable particulate matter will affect human health, and the decrease of atmospheric visibility will affect traffic, daily life and other "visible and tangible" problems. However, from a broader perspective of the earth's environment, things are somewhat different.

A study by Dr. Wang Zifa from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences shows that the emission of sulfur dioxide in northern China is not less than that in southern China, but there are few acid rain incidents. This is because dust particles contain more basic ions such as calcium ions and magnesium ions, which can neutralize acid rain (pH 4.7) in northern China, South Korea and Japan into ordinary rain (pH 5.6), thus slowing down the soil acidification process.

In addition, nutrients such as iron carried by dust particles are transported and settled in the ocean, which is beneficial to the growth and development of marine life. Researcher Shi Guangyu and others have humorously told Japanese scientists engaged in the study of yellow sand many times, "Don't just complain about how much damage the yellow sand in China has brought you, you should thank us. We endured great' national sacrifice' and transported the most nutritious dust in the topsoil of Hunshandake in Inner Mongolia to the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. If there is no such transportation, the growth of marine plankton and fish will be seriously affected. You should not expect to eat any' delicious sashimi'. "

Of course, more importantly, the paper published in American Natural Science in 2005 by An Zhisheng, an academician of the Institute of Earth Environment of Chinese Academy of Sciences, has shown that dust can not only affect the primary productivity of marine plankton, but also have a significant impact on the marine carbon cycle and even the global climate system.

Researcher Shi Guangyu said that although scientists all over the world have done a lot of research on sandstorms in recent decades and tried to take various measures to reduce the harm of sandstorms, the control effect of sandstorms is still unsatisfactory. As a natural phenomenon and an important environmental problem, sandstorm still has many scientific problems to be solved. Therefore, further strengthening the research on the occurrence, development and evolution of sandstorms will help to accurately predict and judge sandstorms and provide strong scientific support for disaster prevention and mitigation.

Every spring, Beijing experiences different degrees of dusty weather. Researcher Shi Guangyu and others hope that the public can treat it with a normal heart and not panic. At the same time, do a good job in prevention and self-protection to minimize the harm caused by dusty weather.