"the yellow dust from China"

This time of year, dust from the deserts in Kazakstan, China, and Mongolia get caught up in windstorms and are carried east to places like Korea. On these days, the Korean teachers tell us that we shouldn't walk to school or spend a lot of time outside, because on the way over the dust storms pick up the following:

Sulphur, soot, ash, carbon monoxide, toxic pollutants, mercury, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, lead, zinc, copper and other carcinogens, viruses, bacteria, fungi, pesticides, antibiotics, asbestos, herbicides, plastic ingredients, combustion products and hormone-mimicking phthalates. (according to wikipedia)

In an effort to help decrase the amount of dust stirred up, China said it would plant trees in the desert. But this didn't work for two reasons: in some places the wind was too strong for the trees to survive, and in other places no trees were planted at all -- the hills were just painted green.