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Mongolia's land-locked position between Siberia and China can lead to extremely cold winters. |
March 2000
Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia
While North Americans enjoyed one of the warmest winters on record, other regions of the world endured extreme freezes during the winter of 1999-2000. In Mongolia, severe cold, blizzards, and heavy snow threatened the lives of many rural citizens, according to a report from the Associated Press.
Mongolia is a largely pastoral country, widely dependent on livestock grazing. Cattle, sheep, goats, and horses are the economic mainstay for most rural Mongolians. This past winter, blizzards began in September. Temperatures fell to -49 degrees Fahrenheit, and snow cover prevented livestock grazing. By the end of March, food stocks for livestock were expected to run out. Some 300,000 people, nearly half the country's population of nomadic herders, were expected to face food shortages before spring arrived, according to a February Red Cross report. At the same time, nomads were running out of heating fuel---principally, dried animal dung that is used for heating and cooking in nomadic households---because of the long, cold winter.
To learn more, see these related websites:
Winter in Mongolia (description)
Facts on Mongolia, from Lonely Planet travel guides
To read more, see:
Environmental Science, A Global Concern, Cunningham and Saigo, 6th ed.
Pastoralism, nomadic herding, pp. 319-20
Climate, pp. 384-91
Twentieth-century changes to climate, p. 388
Environmental Science, A Study of Interrelationships, Enger and Smith, 7th ed.
The atmosphere, pp. 332-33
Global warming and climate change, pp. 344-49
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