Mongolia’s experiencing what may be the worst winter in 30 years. There’s a massive “dzud” going on. What’s a dzud? It’s when a harsh summer draught (not enough grass for grazing or for setting aside for winter feed) is followed with no relief by heavy winter snows which makes it impossible for animals to forage for grass. It’s supposed to be warmer where we are in Erdenet and yet even here we’ve experienced weeks on end of -25F/-35F day/night temperatures. I can’t even imagine what it’s like in the southern and western provinces where snow is thick and impenetrable to the animals and temperatures dip below -40F. According to recent reports, nearly 1.5 million animals have already died and herder families have started migrating to the capital, Ulaanbaatar to be able to find wood and coal to heat their gers. The last bad dzud was over the 2000/01 winter and the migration of herder families caused the capital to double in population to its now 1 million+ inhabitants, greatly straining the cities already inadequate infrastructure. This year’s dzud is even worse.
Here are two link to pages with more info if you’re interested in learning more.
ReliefWeb’s Dzud Situation Report
Mongolia: A Disaster Slowly Uncoiling
PS - This is also why it’s REALLY hard to deliver books to rural locations in the winter.
Notes
February 02, 2010, 7:07pm
