A ~ 230-year dust storm record from China’s Lake Gonghai on the northeast Loess Plateau

Dust storm variations over the past ~230 years were reconstructed on the northeast Loess Plateau using a sediment core from Lake Gonghai. The coarse component of the lake sediments (17.38–109.65 μm) was extracted using the grain size standard deviations method and could be used as a dust storm proxy. The reconstructed results suggest five dust storm peaks: in the 1810s, the late 1850s to the late 1880s, the late 1890s to the early 1920s, ~1950s to the early 1990s, and the late 2000s to the early 2010s. The 1950s–1990s had the highest frequency of dust storms over the past ~230 years, as a result of the combined effects of increased human activities, droughts, and strong winds. Before ~1950, the frequency of dust storms was influenced mainly by natural factors, such as drought events and high intensities of the Siberian High and the East Asian Winter Monsoon. After the 1950s, intensive human activity had a significant impact on dust storms, resulting in a relatively high frequency. However, because of a weakening trend in wind strengths resulting from global warming and ecological rehabilitation projects in North China, the frequency of dust storms has significantly decreased in the past two decades. This study highlights the significant effect of human activities on dust storm generation in Inner Asia and the variations in dust storms under global warming scenarios.