Overgrazing behind degradation of Mongolia’s grasslands - 17 Dec 2011
Overgrazing behind degradation of Mongolia’s grasslands.
In a recent address to the nation's Parliament, cited in the online news provider China Network Television, Mongolia’s Deputy Minister for Food, Agriculture and Light Industry J. Saule stated that over 70% of the country’s grasslands had become degraded from illegal mining and overgrazing, with livestock numbers
that had increased by more than 12 million since the 1990s.
At the same meeting, a Water Resource Department official said that due to extreme droughts caused by climate change, more than 1,000 of the country's rivers, lakes, and streams had disappeared.
The land condition known as desertification has also become a major problem for the Asian country, where the regions classified as being severely affected have increased by more than five times in the past ten years.
Our sincere thanks, Deputy Minister J. Saule and all officials who are raising awareness about these challenges of human-caused decline to our environment. May we hastily implement measures to protect Mongolia’s precious grasslands and renew the flourishing of our planet.
During an April 2011 videoconference in Mongolia, Supreme Master Ching Hai urged for the halting of livestock raising as a dual solution both to climate change and land degradation.
http://english.cntv.cn/20111123/111281.shtml
http://www.mongoliaeconomy.com/?p=6129
http://www.mongoliaeconomy.com/?p=1022
http://www.mongoliaeconomy.com/?p=1022,
http://www.fao.org/forestry/16406-0812b41944e765573b64c490fdc768a5e.pdf,
Extra News
A study released on December 13, 2011 by researchers at San Francisco State University in California, USA finds that continued climate change with its associated sea level rise could cause the disappearance of up to 93% of the local tidal marshes over the next century.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-12-bay-wetlands-sea.html
http://www.sfsu.edu/~news/experts/Science-and-Engineering/Parker_Thomas.html
The National Research Council's Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Sciences Institute in Italy states that 2011 ranks as the 6th hottest year since recordkeeping began some 200 years ago,reports the Italian news agency AGI.
http://www.agi.it/english-version/italy/elenco-notizie/201112111203-cro-ren1014-farmers_say_2011_is_6th_hottest_year_in_two_centuries
A report presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in the first week of December 2011 indicates that climate change has caused the glaciers of Peru's Rio Santa Valley to shrink beyond the point of peak discharge, with water supplies that are now forecast to diminish more rapidly in regions that have already experienced shortages.
http://news.yahoo.com/shrinking-glaciers-point-looming-water-shortages-131003604.html
http://www.livescience.com/17379-shrinking-glaciers-water-shortages.html
http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2011/12/peak-water-glaciers
In a recent address to the nation's Parliament, cited in the online news provider China Network Television, Mongolia’s Deputy Minister for Food, Agriculture and Light Industry J. Saule stated that over 70% of the country’s grasslands had become degraded from illegal mining and overgrazing, with livestock numbers
that had increased by more than 12 million since the 1990s.
At the same meeting, a Water Resource Department official said that due to extreme droughts caused by climate change, more than 1,000 of the country's rivers, lakes, and streams had disappeared.
The land condition known as desertification has also become a major problem for the Asian country, where the regions classified as being severely affected have increased by more than five times in the past ten years.
Our sincere thanks, Deputy Minister J. Saule and all officials who are raising awareness about these challenges of human-caused decline to our environment. May we hastily implement measures to protect Mongolia’s precious grasslands and renew the flourishing of our planet.
During an April 2011 videoconference in Mongolia, Supreme Master Ching Hai urged for the halting of livestock raising as a dual solution both to climate change and land degradation.
Supreme Master Ching Hai: The Mongolian National Agency for Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment Monitoring have identified livestock overgrazing as the most prevalent cause of land degradation which worsens desertification in your country.
And 70% of Mongolia’s land has already been affected by desertification. Meanwhile, more than half of the Mongolian people don’t have access to clean water. This is partly due to climate change, which is also impacting Mongolia with extreme weather disasters such as droughts, floods and heavy snowfall – heavy snowfalls you have experienced, yes? The number one cause of climate change is livestock breeding; we all know that by now.
So in our urgent situation of climate change, I think it would be more effective also, apart from the proposal that you made, we should stop the damage-inflicting activities such as livestock breeding.
And 70% of Mongolia’s land has already been affected by desertification. Meanwhile, more than half of the Mongolian people don’t have access to clean water. This is partly due to climate change, which is also impacting Mongolia with extreme weather disasters such as droughts, floods and heavy snowfall – heavy snowfalls you have experienced, yes? The number one cause of climate change is livestock breeding; we all know that by now.
So in our urgent situation of climate change, I think it would be more effective also, apart from the proposal that you made, we should stop the damage-inflicting activities such as livestock breeding.
http://english.cntv.cn/20111123/111281.shtml
http://www.mongoliaeconomy.com/?p=6129
http://www.mongoliaeconomy.com/?p=1022
http://www.mongoliaeconomy.com/?p=1022,
http://www.fao.org/forestry/16406-0812b41944e765573b64c490fdc768a5e.pdf,
Extra News
A study released on December 13, 2011 by researchers at San Francisco State University in California, USA finds that continued climate change with its associated sea level rise could cause the disappearance of up to 93% of the local tidal marshes over the next century.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-12-bay-wetlands-sea.html
http://www.sfsu.edu/~news/experts/Science-and-Engineering/Parker_Thomas.html
The National Research Council's Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Sciences Institute in Italy states that 2011 ranks as the 6th hottest year since recordkeeping began some 200 years ago,reports the Italian news agency AGI.
http://www.agi.it/english-version/italy/elenco-notizie/201112111203-cro-ren1014-farmers_say_2011_is_6th_hottest_year_in_two_centuries
A report presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in the first week of December 2011 indicates that climate change has caused the glaciers of Peru's Rio Santa Valley to shrink beyond the point of peak discharge, with water supplies that are now forecast to diminish more rapidly in regions that have already experienced shortages.
http://news.yahoo.com/shrinking-glaciers-point-looming-water-shortages-131003604.html
http://www.livescience.com/17379-shrinking-glaciers-water-shortages.html
http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2011/12/peak-water-glaciers