I wish to thank the following individuals for consenting to be interviewed or for providing me with information: Tom Cahill, University of California, Davis; Greg Carmichael, University of Iowa; Sunling Gong, Environment Canada; Rudy Husar, Washington University; Carey Jang, US Environmental Protection Agency; Barry Huebert, University of Hawaii; Ikuko Mori, National Institute for Environmental Studies (Japan); Toshiyuki Murayama, Tokyo University of Mercantile Marine; Masataka Nishikawa, National Institute for Environmental Studies (Japan); Soon-Ung Park, Seoul National University; Russ Schnell, US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Tony VanCuren, California Air Resources Board; Sen Wang, Canadian Forest Service; Martin Williams, University of Adelaide; Lian Xie, North Carolina State University; Jentai Yang, US Environmental Protection Agency; and Kebin Zhang, Beijing Forestry University. In addition, I profited from comments and insights offered by Stephan Haggard and two anonymous reviewers. I thank them for their careful reading of my manuscript. Research for this study was funded in part by grants from the US Environmental Protection Agency (GX82944101) and the University of Northern British Columbia. A preliminary version of this article was presented at the 45th Annual Convention of the International Studies Association, March 17–20, 2004, Montreal, Canada.Google Scholar

1. Examples of trans-Pacific environmental cooperation include the 1911 North Pacific Fur Seal Convention, the 1992 Convention for the Conservation of Anadromous Stocks in the North Pacific Ocean, efforts to introduce environmental issues into deliberations within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC), and exchanges between nongovernmental organizations on both sides of the Pacific.Google Scholar

2. See, for example, Adeel, Zafar, ed., East Asian Experience in Environmental Governance: Response in a Rapidly Developing Region (Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 2003); Harris, Paul G., ed., International Environmental Cooperation: Politics and Diplomacy in Pacific Asia (Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2002); and Schreurs, Miranda A. and Pirages, Dennis, eds., Ecological Security in Northeast Asia (Seoul: Yonsei University Press, 1998).Google Scholar

3. See, for example, Bocking, Stephen, Nature's Experts: Science, Politics, and the Environment (Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2004); Harrison, Neil and Bryner, Gary, Science and Politics in the International Environment (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004); Andresen, Steinar et al., Science and Politics in International Environmental Regimes: Between Integrity and Involvement (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000); Wynne, Brian, “Scientific Knowledge and the Global Environment,” in Redclift, Michael and Benton, Ted, eds., Social Theory and the Global Environment (London: Routledge, 1994); Young, Oran R. and Osherenko, Gail, Polar Politics: Creating International Environmental Regimes (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993); and Haas, Peter M., Saving the Mediterranean: The Politics of International Environmental Cooperation (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990).Google Scholar

4. See, for example, Parson, Edward A., Protecting the Ozone Layer: Science, Strategy and Negotiations in the Shaping of a Global Environmental Regime (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003); Bäckstrand, Karin, What Can Nature Withstand? Science, Politics and Discourses in Transboundary Air Pollution Diplomacy (Lund: Lund University Press, 2001); Grundmann, Reiner, Transnational Environmental Policy: Reconstructing Ozone (London: Routledge, 2001); Miller, Clark A. and Edwards, Paul N., Changing the Atmosphere: Expert Knowledge and Environmental Governance (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2001); and Soroos, Marvin S., The Endangered Atmosphere: Preserving a Global Commons (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1997).Google Scholar

5. See note 2.Google Scholar

6. See, for example, Wilkening, Kenneth E., Acid Rain Science and Politics in Japan: A History of Knowledge and Action Toward Sustainability (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2004); Takahashi, Wakana, “Problems of Environmental Cooperation in Northeast Asia: The Case of Acid Rain,” in Harris, , International Environmental Cooperation; and Anna Brettell and Yasuko Kawashima, “Sino-Japanese Relations on Acid Rain,” in Schreurs, and Pirages, , Ecological Security. Google Scholar

7. This scheme draws on my own work (Wilkening, Acid Rain Science and Politics in Japan) and that of Dimitrov, Radoslav S., Science and International Environmental Policy: Regimes and Nonregimes in Global Governance (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005), and Young, and Osherenko, , Polar Politics. Google Scholar

8. These are described in Wilkening, Ken, “Global Dust: Atmospheric Science and the Globalization of Desertification” (manuscript under review).Google Scholar

9. Johnson, Pierre Marc, Mayrand, Karel, and Paquin, Marc, eds., Governing Global Desertification: Linking Environmental Degradation, Poverty and Participation (Williston, VT: Ashgate, 2006).Google Scholar

10. Ibid.; Ci, Longjun, “Disasters of Strong Sandstorms over Large Areas and the Spread of Land Desertification in China” (ch. 10), and Lu, Qi and Ju, Hongbo, “Root Causes, Processes and Consequence Analysis of Sandstorms in Northern China in 2000“ (ch. 12), in Yang, Youlin, Squires, Victor, and Lu, Qi, eds., Global Alarm: Dust and Sandstorms from the World's Drylands (Bangkok: Asia Regional Coordinating Unit of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, 2001); US Embassy Beijing, “Grapes of Wrath in Inner Mongolia” (2001), available at www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandt/MongoliaDust-web.htm; US Embassy Beijing, “China Adopts Law to Control Desertification” (2001), available at www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandt/desertification_law.htm; US Embassy Beijing, “PRC Desertification: Inner Mongolian Range Wars and the Ningxia Population Boom” (1998), available at www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandt/desmngca.htm; US Embassy Beijing, “PRC Desertification: Mud Rain Rarer Now” (1998), available at www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandt/mudrain.htm; Zambyn Batjargal, “Desertification in Mongolia,” in Rala Report No. 200: Case Studies of Rangeland Desertification. Proceedings from an International Workshop in Iceland, September 1997 (Reykjavik: Agricultural Research Institute, 1997).Google Scholar

11. Wang, Shigong et al., “Progress of Research on Understanding Sand and Dust Storms in the World” (ch. 2), and Yang, Gengsheng, Xiao, Honglang, and Tuo, Wanquan, “Black Windstorm in Northwest China: A Case Study of the Strong Sand-Dust Storm on May 5, 1993” (ch. 3), in Yang, Squires, and Lu, Global Alarm. Google Scholar

12. Parungo, F. et al., “Gobi Dust Storms and the Great Green Wall,” Geophysical Research Letters 21, no. 11 (1994): 999–1002.Google Scholar

13. CCICCD, China National Report on the Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and National Action Programme to Combat Desertification (Beijing: Secretariat of the China National Committee for the Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification), p. 5.Google Scholar

14. Ibid., p. 7.Google Scholar

15. Ibid., p. 5.Google Scholar

16. Yang, Squires, and Lu, , Global Alarm , p. ix.Google Scholar

17. Wang, Sen, Zheng, Rui, and Yang, Youlin, “Combating Desertification: The Asian Experience,” International Forestry Review 2, no. 2 (2000): 112–117.Google Scholar

18. Middleton, N. J., “Dust Storms in the Mongolian People's Republic,” Journal of Arid Environments 20 (1991): 287–297.Google Scholar

19. Ministry of Nature and Environment of Mongolia, National Plan of Action to Combat Desertification in Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: Ministry of Nature and Environment, 1997), p. 3.Google Scholar

20. Ibid., p. 19.Google Scholar

21. Natsagdorj, L., Jugder, D., and Chung, Y. S., “Analysis of Dust Storms Observed in Mongolia During 1937–1999,” Atmospheric Environment 37 (2003): 1401–1411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

22. Batjargal, , “Desertification in Mongolia.” Google Scholar

23. Ibid. Google Scholar

24. Ibid. Google Scholar

25. Natsagdorj, Jugder, and Chung, , “Analysis of Dust Storms.” Google Scholar

26. Dong, Zhibao, Wang, Xunming, and Liu, Lianyou, “Wind Erosion in Arid and Semiarid China: An Overview,” Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 55, no. 4 (2000): 439–444; Nishikawa, Masataka, “Kōsa earozoru no furumai nitsuite” (Environmental effects of Kosa aerosol), Kankyō kagaku (Journal of Environmental Chemistry) 3, no. 4 (1993): 673–682 (in Japanese).Google Scholar

27. See Figure 5 in Dong, Wang, and Liu, , “Wind Erosion in Arid and Semiarid China,” p. 443.Google Scholar

28. Xuan, Jie et al., “Identification and Characterization of Sources of Atmospheric Mineral Dust in East Asia,” Atmospheric Environment 38 (2004): 6239–6252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

29. Wilkening, Kenneth E., Barrie, Leonard A., and Engle, Marilyn, “Trans-Pacific Air Pollution,” Science 290 (2000): 65, 67.Google Scholar

30. US Environmental Protection Agency, “Impact of April 2001 Asian Dust Event on Particulate Matter Concentrations in the United States,” in National Air Quality and Emissions Trends Report, 2003 (Washington, DC: US Environmental Protection Agency, 2003); Rahn, Kenneth A., Borys, Randolph D., and Shaw, Glenn E., “The Asian Source of Arctic Haze Bands,” Nature 268 (1977): 713–715.Google Scholar

31. CCICCD, China National Report on the Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and National Action Programme to Combat Desertification; Ministry of Nature and Environment of Mongolia, National Plan of Action to Combat Desertification in Mongolia. Google Scholar

32. Natsagdorj, Jugder, and Chung, , “Analysis of Dust Storms,” p. 1402.Google Scholar

33. Xuan, et al., “Identification and Characterization of Sources of Atmospheric Mineral Dust in East Asia.” Google Scholar

34. For an indication of Mongolia's contribution, see Figure 6, ibid.Google Scholar

35. Ibid.; Sun, Jimin, “Provenance of Loess Material and Formation of Loess Deposits on the Chinese Loess Plateau,” Earth and Planetary Science Letters 203 (2002): 845–859.Google Scholar

36. Corliss, Mick, “China's Environmental Problems Pose Opportunities,” Japan Times , October 25, 2002, p. 3.Google Scholar

37. Chun, Youngsin et al., “Synopsis, Transport, and Physical Characteristics of Asian Dust in Korea,” Journal of Geophysical Research 106, no. D16 (2001): 18461–18469; Chun, Y., “Yellow Sand Phenomenon Recorded in the Choson Dynasty Silok,” Journal of the Korean Meteorological Society 36, no. 2 (2000): 285–292.Google Scholar

38. Chun, et al., “Synopsis, Transport, and Physical Characteristics of Asian Dust in Korea.” Google Scholar

39. French, Howard W., “China's Growing Deserts Are Suffocating Korea,” New York Times , April 14, 2002, sec. 1, p. 3.Google Scholar

40. Chun, Youngsin, “Monitoring and Forecasting of Asian Dust Events in Korea,” a presentation at the Third Expert Meeting on Ecological Conservation in Northwest China: Seminar on Dust and Sand Storms (DSS), February 18, 2003; Chung, Yong-seung et al., “On Heavy Dustfall Observed with Explosive Sandstorms in Chongwon-Chongju, Korea in 2002,” Atmospheric Environment 37 (2003): 3425–3433.Google Scholar

41. Chung, et al., “On Heavy Dustfall.” Google Scholar

42. Kwon, Ho-Jang et al., “Effects of the Asian Dust Events on Daily Mortality in Seoul, Korea,” Environmental Research 90, no. 1 (2002): 1–5.Google Scholar

43. Ibid. Google Scholar

44. Nishikawa, , “Kosa earozoru no furumai nitsuite” (Environmental effects of Kosa aerosol); Nagoya University Water Research Institute, ed., Kosa (Yellow sands) (Tokyo: Koki Shoin, 1991) (in Japanese).Google Scholar

45. Kadowaki, Satoshi, “Silicon and Aluminum in Urban Aerosols for Characterization of Atmospheric Soil Particles in the Nagoya Area,” Environmental Science and Technology 13, no. 9 (1979): 1130–1133; Mizohata, Akira and Mamuro, Tetsuo, “Kosa earozoru ni kansuru ni, san no chiken” (Some information about Loess aerosol over Japan), Taiki Osen Gakkaishi (Journal of Japanese Society of Air Pollution) 13, no. 7 (1978): 289–297 (in Japanese); Tsunogai, S. et al., “Chemical Composition of Oceanic Aerosol,” Journal of Geophysical Research 77, no. 27 (1972): 5283–5292.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

46. Wilkening, , Acid Rain Science and Politics in Japan. Google Scholar

47. Chang, Young-Soo, Arndt, Richard L., and Carmichael, Gregory R., “Mineral Base-Cation Deposition in Asia,” Atmospheric Environment 30, no. 13 (1996): 2417–2427.Google Scholar

48. “Acidic Sand from Mainland May Destroy Soil, Experts Say,” Japan Times , October, 2001, p. 2; Nishikawa, Masataka et al., “Kosa Aerosol as Eolian Carrier of Anthropogenic Material,” Science of the Total Environment 107 (1991): 13–27.Google Scholar

49. Asian Development Bank, Regional Master Plan for the Prevention and Control of Dust and Sandstorms in Northeast Asia (vol. 1); The Establishment of a Regional Monitoring and Early Warning Network for Dust and Sandstorms in Northeast Asia (vol. 2); An Investment Strategy for DSS Prevention and Control Through Demonstration Projects (vol. 3) (Manila: Asian Development Bank, 2005).Google Scholar

50. Merrill, J. T., Uematsu, M., and Bleck, R., “Meteorological Analysis of Long Range Transport of Mineral Aerosols over the North Pacific,” Journal of Geophysical Research 94 (1989): 8584–8598; Braaten, D. A. and Cahill, T. A., “Size and Composition of Asian Dust Transported to Hawaii,” Atmospheric Environment 20 (1986): 1105–1109; Parrington, J. R., Zoller, W. H., and Aras, N. K., “Asian Dust: Seasonal Transport to the Hawaiian Islands,” Science 220 (1983): 195–197; Uematsu, Mitsuo et al., “Transport of Mineral Aerosol from Asia over the North Pacific Ocean,” Journal of Geophysical Research 88, no. C9 (1983): 5343–5352; Duce, R. A. et al., “Long-Range Atmospheric Transport of Soil Dust from Asia to the Tropical North Pacific: Temporal Variability,” Science 209 (1980): 1522–1524; Shaw, G. E., “Transport of Asian Desert Aerosol to the Hawaiian Islands,” Journal of Applied Meteorology 19 (1980): 1254–1259; Tsunogai, et al., “Chemical Composition of Oceanic Aerosol.” Google Scholar

51. Husar, R. B. et al., “Asian Dust Events of April 1998,” Journal of Geophysical Research 106, no. D16 (2001): 18317–18330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

52. Polakovic, Gary, “Asia's Wind-Borne Pollution a Hazardous Export to U.S.,” Los Angeles Times , April 26, 2002, p. A1; John, Kelly St., “Bay Skies to Come Alive with the Dust of China,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 28, 2002, p. A8; Ann Schrader, “Latest Import from China: Haze,” Denver Post, April 18, 2001, p. A1.Google Scholar

53. Seinfeld, John H. et al., “ACE-Asia: Regional Climatic and Atmospheric Chemical Effects of Asian Dust and Pollution,” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 85, no. 3 (2004): 367–380; Huebert, Barry J. et al., “An Overview of ACE-Asia: Strategies for Quantifying the Relationships Between Asian Aerosols and Their Climatic Impacts,” Journal of Geophysical Research 108, no. D23 (2003): 8633 (doi:8610.1029/2003JD003550).Google Scholar

54. VanCuren, Richard A. et al., “Asian Continental Aerosol Persistence Above the Marine Boundary Layer over the Eastern North Pacific: Continuous Aerosol Measurements from Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation 2002 (ITCT 2k2),” Journal of Geophysical Research 110, no. D09S90 (2005) (doi: 10.1029/2004JD004973); VanCuren, Richard A. and Cahill, Thomas A., “Asian Aerosols in North America: Frequency and Concentration of Fine Dust,” Journal of Geophysical Research 107, no. D24 (2002): 4804–4819.Google Scholar

55. VanCuren, and Cahill, , “Asian Aerosols in North America,” p. 4818.Google Scholar

56. US Environmental Protection Agency, “Impact of April 2001 Asian Dust Event.” Google Scholar

57. Dentener, F. J. et al., “Role of Mineral Aerosol as a Reactive Surface in the Global Troposphere,” Journal of Geophysical Research 101, no. D17 (1996): 22869–22889.CrossRefGoogle Scholar