Mongolia's Spring Harvest - Carcasses: At Least 8 Million Livestock Die In Worst Winter In Memory

[hatrack]

SOUTH HANGAY PROVINCE, Mongolia — They call it the zud, a prolonged period of heavy snows and paralyzing cold that adds to the challenges of living on a treeless expanse nearly the size of Alaska. But this year’s zud followed a punishing summer drought that stunted the grass and left Munkhbat Lkhagvasuren’s herds emaciated and his family in debt after borrowing money for fodder.

As the snow piled waist high this winter and temperatures plunged to 40 below zero, Mr. Lkhagvasuren crammed two dozen of the weakest goats and sheep into his yurt. The unlucky ones, more than 1,000 animals, froze to death in a great heap outside his front door. “I tried everything but could not fight against nature,” he said tearfully in a recent interview, the stench of rotting flesh overpowering despite a devilish wind. “I am broken and lost.”

Mongolia and its 800,000 herders are reeling from the worst winter that anyone can remember. According to United Nations relief officials, nearly eight million cows, yaks, camels, horses, goats and sheep died, about 17 percent of the country’s livestock. Even if the spring rains arrive soon, 500,000 more animals are expected to succumb in the coming weeks.

“This is not only a catastrophe for the herders but for the entire Mongolian economy,” said Akbar Usmani, the resident representative for the United Nations Development Program. “We expect the ripple effects for months and years to come.”

EDIT

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/world/asia/20mongolia.html

[guardian]

1. "1,000 animals, froze to death"

"800,000 herders are reeling from the worst winter that anyone can remember."

I bet they would have appreciated a little global warming. Oh wait this is 'weather' not 'climate'. Reports of seasonal variations outside the norm only count when it promotes the global warming meme.

Cold winter in Mongolia this year. That is weather and not to be confused with climate. Check
Warm weather in Maine this year and early sap run for maple syrup. Definite sign of global warming. Check.

[AlecBGreen]

2. is your ignorance intentional?

do you make ANY effort to understand WHAT global warming and climate change actually are? Your post suggests you dont.

[guardian]

3. So in your opinion

is the cold Mongolian winter an indicator of AGW, or simply a weather variation that falls within normal long-term cyclic patterns?

Is the flooding in Tennessee due to AGW, or just simply that it's been 500 years since the last flood of that magnitude (i.e., a 500 year flood)?

[Barrett808]

4. What matters is the trend in frequency of extreme weather events

A change in the underlying weather statistics is evidence of changing climate. We can make out the climate-change signal quite clearly in several instances, for example:

Record Hot and Cold Days in Australia, 1960-2009

California Heat Waves, 1948-2006

Extreme One-Day Precipitation Events in the Lower 48 States, 1910–2008

Canada Winter Temperature Departures, 1948-2010

Trends in Historic European Droughts, 1962-2004

NOAA: ‘North American snow cover for April 2010 was the smallest on record.’

Global statistics also show that climate is changing, for example:

NOAA: Hottest April and hottest Jan-April on record

Changes in regional weather statistics such as these support the theory that climate is changing globally. These observations disconfirm the claim that global climate is not changing.