Livelihoods of Mongolia's Nomadic Herders Threatened by Climate Change

TaiwanPlus News

The effects of climate change are particularly devastating to Mongolia's centuries-old nomadic herding culture. As the country's population increasingly concentrates in its one major city, those who remain on the steppe face dire winters and an uncertain future.

Transcript

00:00On the Mongolian steppe, livestock herder Zandan Kramsoran tends to what's left of his flock.

00:06A year ago, he had over 700 animals, including horses, cows, goats and sheep.

00:12Then winter came.

00:30He estimates 60 to 70 percent of his animals died.

00:34None of the horses or cows survived.

00:37The long, harsh winter buried in snow the grass his animals feed on.

00:42They starved and then froze.

00:45Zandan Kramsoran's livestock weren't the only ones.

00:49Over seven million animals are thought to have died in last winter's dzud,

00:54one of the worst in recorded history.

01:00I lost three sheep.

01:03I lost a calf.

01:06I lost a calf.

01:09I lost a calf.

01:13Mongolians have lived off the land for centuries.

01:16Nomadic herding, once Mongolia's predominant occupation,

01:20is still practiced by roughly a third of the country's three and a half million people.

01:25But that is rapidly changing.

01:28Nearly half of Mongolians now live in its one major city, capital Ulaanbaatar.

01:35Every year, more arrive, seeking opportunities of modern life

01:39and refuge from an increasingly difficult pastoral existence.

01:44And as the climate continues to change, the trend of urbanization is certain to continue.

01:50Compared to other countries, Mongolia is considered very, very vulnerable to climate change effects.

01:56Over the last eight years, Mongolia's average temperature has increased by 2.5 degrees Celsius,

02:06which is at least three times than the global average.

02:12The overall warming trend has brought hotter, drier summers and desertification

02:17and longer, snowier winters of mass animal starvation.

02:21Past generations of Mongolians relied on a stable climate cycle to survive and prosper.

02:27Today, the absence of that stability is upending traditional life for many.

02:40How much longer Mongolia's nomadic herders can continue their traditional way of life is anyone's guess.

02:46But it is certain that these people will be forced to adapt to survive on a changing planet.

02:53Chris Ma and Jonathan Kaplan for Taiwan Plus.

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