Rain, Rain

On Friday, something rare happened in Beijing – it rained. I’ve been in China since August and it has only rained twice and snowed once. The last time it rained was sometime before Halloween.

Beijing, like several other parts of China, is experiencing desertification. The Gobi Desert consumes about 3,600 square kilometers (2,250square miles) of grassland a year. So, slowly, a lot of China is becoming a desert.

There are, of course, efforts to stop this. The main way seems to be tree planting. Since 1981, about 64 billion trees have beenplanted. However, not every sapling lives. So, I don’t know how many of this huge number of trees is still around today. The Chinese government does saythat their efforts restore between 40,000 and 70,000 square kilometers (25,000to 43,750 square miles) of land each year.

The world is watching China’s desertification reversal measures. If these measures are successful, other countries will be able to adapt them to their own situations. Good luck China!

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To see a gallery of striking images of China's desertification, check out this series of photos by Sean Gallagher. 

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