Agency Issues Yellow Dust Warning

The first preliminary yellow dust warning of the year was issued on February 22, and on February 23, a yellow dust alert will take effect. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) announced on February 22 that, “Starting from midday on February 21, yellow dust from the desert areas of inland China has been moving toward Korea.” The KMA added, “It is expected that from Thursday night until Friday, there will be a severe yellow dust phenomenon.”

On Thursday night, as southwesterly winds from the Yellow Sea move northward and change into northwestern winds, forecasters predict that yellow dust winds will become stronger until February 23.

Yellow dust is classified into three levels: average, strong, and very strong. Middle level or “strong” yellow dust conditions are when it is possible to walk outdoors without finding it hard to breathe because of dusty winds, but when the sky appears to be yellow.

On this day, the KMA announced that yellow dust would occur more often in spring this year than the average year (3.6 days per year). This is because the desert area in central China where yellow dust originates has had warmer temperatures (3-4 degrees) than the average year and less rainfall, which will lead to frequent occurrences of strong yellow dust winds.

“Spring’s unwelcome guest,” another name for yellow dust, is dust that contains heavy metals such as silicon, copper, cadmium and lead, which can cause eye infections and respiratory complications.

Professor Kim Byung-kwon at the Occupational and Environmental Medical Center of Korea University Ansan Hospital said, “Normally, dust with a concentration of 0.5μm (micrometer, 1μm is 1 millionth of 1 m) can leave the body as we breathe out, but the yellow dust from China mostly has a concentration of 2.5-10μm, so it is not able to leave the body.” He added, “Therefore, yellow dust damages the respiratory organs and, in the case of the elderly or children, this can result in pneumonia.”

Especially during dry weather, nasal and respiratory mucous membranes lack moisture, allowing viruses within the yellow dust to easily penetrate, which makes it easy to contract a cold. This makes skin and eye ailments such as pink eye also easy to catch.

To avoid such diseases, it is best that elderly people do not go outdoors on days that yellow dust alerts have been activated. In case an outing is unavoidable, a mask and sunglasses should be worn and people who wear contact lenses are recommended to wear glasses instead.

After returning home, people should wash their faces and brush their teeth. To strengthen resistance, people should drink water frequently to prevent their respiratory cilia and airways from drying up because they both help to flush out dust particles from the body.

Meanwhile, early on February 22, a sea fog that formed on the west coast caused thick fog in the midland area, resulting in Incheon International Airport having to cancel five departing flights and turning away 35 flights that had been scheduled to land. At Gimpo Airport, a total of 53 flights were cancelled, including 18 flights from Seoul to Jeju. It is expected that there will be no fog on February 23, however.

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