Mongolia has just seen its harshest winter in 50 years. The extreme weather conditions have led to the deaths of over 4.7 million animals. It has also been threatening thousands of individuals' food supply and livelihoods.
A Livestock-Dependent Lifestyle Threatened
Such severe weather conditions, called dzud, are marked by temperature plummets, deep ice, and snow covering grazing areas and cutting off livestock food access.
In Mongolia, around 300,000 people are nomadic herders. They rely on horses, goats, and cattle for food and to sell.
Alexander Matheou, the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) Regional Director for Asia Pacific, says that individuals who fully depend on livestock for survival have become destitute in a matter of months. Some of these individuals can no longer heat their homes or feed themselves.
Since November 2023, around 2,250 herder families, or more, have lost over 70% of their livestock. Now, over 7,000 families lack adequate food access.
Mongolia's Harshest Winter in 50 Years
Around three-fourths of the country has been affected by the dzud. However, conditions are expected to get worse as winter persists.
Matheou explains that winter still drags across Mongolia while it is now spring. Snow is still present on the ground, and livestock are still dying.
Last Month, the Mongolian government officially declared a state of heightened readiness, which will last until May 15. Moreover, the IFRC just launched an appeal for funding to aid people who suffer from livelihood loss.
Matheou explains that even with high preparedness, this would not be enough to cope with the extreme conditions. They have already made remarkable efforts for preparedness, yet the dzud's scale was still quite alarming.
In most cases, herders' families move with the seasons. They travel across the country's vast grasslands to find pastures for livestock grazing. They typically use the summer months to grow grass, fodder, and crops so that their animals can survive through the winter.
Though these herder families are used to Mongolia's bitter winters, a dzud (disaster) occurs when extreme cold and heavy snowfall follow summer droughts. Temperatures can plummet to as low as -30 degrees Celsius or even lower.
This year's snowfall has been the highest in 49 years. During its peak in January, it covered roughly 90% of the country.
Last year, the summer began well with great rainfall. However, drastic temperature drops and early snowfall were seen in November. These conditions went before sudden rises in temperatures, leading to snow thawing.
This followed a stretched cold snap under -40 degrees Celsius in certain areas.
This implied that pasture was extremely poor and animals could not get fat before winter. Herders also could not prepare sufficient hay for their livestock's survival through the winter.
Mongolia has now been hit with an "iron" and "white" dzud duo. This means that intense snow has prevented animals from arriving at grasslands. This is mixed with the hard freezes that trap pastures within ice.
The country has been seeing more dzuds, so herders and pastures do not have sufficient time to recover between the extreme weather intervals. There have been six dzuds in the last decade, with this one being the worst.
Mongolia is among the countries that have been affected the most by the climate crisis. In the past 80 years, average air temperatures have increased by 2.1 degrees Celsius. Human-caused climate change has disrupted the country's four unique seasons, leading to a rise in harsh winters and summer droughts.
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