Environment in Mongolia Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Descended from a line of 13th-century conquerors, modern-day Mongolia won independence from China in 1921 and adopted communism three years later under Soviet pressure. Democratic rule was restored in the early 1990s. Surrounded by China and Russia, Mongolia is landlocked with limited freshwater resources in some areas. The climate varies from desert to continental with large daily and seasonal temperature variations. The terrain ranges from semidesert and desert plains to grassy steppe in the mountains of the west and southwest. The well-known Gobi Desert is located in south-central Mongolia. The country is subject to natural hazards that include dust storms, grassland and forest fires, drought, and harsh winter conditions known as zud. Extensive natural resources include oil, coal, copper, molybdenum, tungsten, phosphates, tin, nickel, zinc, fluorspar, gold, silver, and iron. Less than 1 percent of the land is arable.

When the Soviet Union dissolved in the early 1990s, Mongolia lost one-third of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This economic shock was followed by deep recession and natural disasters in the first years of the 21st century. Three harsh winters were followed by summer droughts that led to extensive loss of livestock. With a per capita income of $2,200, Mongolia is ranked 174th of 232 countries on income levels. The economy is heavily dependent on remittances from Mongolians who work abroad. Considerable income disparity exists with the wealthiest 10 percent of the population holding 37 percent of resources while the bottom 10 percent possesses only 2.1 percent. Forty-four percent of Mongolia’s 2,791,272 people are engaged in herding and agriculture, and 36.1 percent of the population live below the national poverty line. Around 28 percent of the people are malnourished. The United Nations Development Programme Human Development Reports rank Mongolia 114th of 232 nations on overall quality-of-life issues.

Like most former Communist countries, Mongolia is experiencing the aftereffects of rapid industrialization and rapid growth unaccompanied by environmental responsibility. Nearly 57 percent of the population live in urban areas where air quality is poor, partially because of coal-burning power plants. Rates of respiratory illnesses among children are increasing. Overgrazing and deforestation in conjunction with the clearing of virgin land for agricultural use has increased the pace of soil erosion beyond what is normal for Mongolia. The country loses an estimated 148,266 acres (60,000 hectares) of forest each year, and only 11.5 percent of the land is protected.

Other environmental issues include desertification and the aftermath of intensive mining. Some 38 percent of Mongolians do not have access to safe drinking water, and 41 percent lack access to improved sanitation. Mongolia has one of the worst waste management systems in Asia, resulting in extensive surface and groundwater pollution. Of 133 endemic mammal species, 14 are endangered, as are 16 of 274 endemic bird species. In 2006, a study by scientists at Yale University ranked Mongolia 115th of 132 countries on environmental performance, below the relevant income and geographic groups. Particularly low rankings were received in the categories of sustainable energy, air quality, water resources, and environmental health.

In the 1980s the Soviets pressured Mongolia to take action in Hovsgol Nuur, where a wool-scouring plant was releasing industrial waste that eventually made its way to Lake Baikal in the Soviet Union. As a result, Mongolia began paying more attention to the environment, closing the plant, banning truck traffic on winter ice, and halting the transportation of oil in barges on area lakes. Government officials were also forced to deal with deforestation in the Hangayn Nuruu, where toxic agricultural runoff, industrial waste, and untreated sewage had polluted the waters and reduced the flow of northern rivers. The desert area of the Gobi had expanded, encroaching on pasturelands.

In 1987, Mongolia created the Ministry of Environmental Protection and began a conscious effort to raise public awareness. Currently, some 4,000 employees work under the Ministry of Nature and Environment, but there is little coordination among agencies, and all agencies are underfunded. Furthermore, environmental laws are not uniformly enforced. Mongolia participates in the following international agreements: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, and Wetlands.

Bibliography:

Timothy Doyle, Environmental Movements in Minority and Majority Worlds: A Global Perspective (Rutgers University Press, 2005);
Kevin H. Hillstrom and Laurie Collier Hillstrom, Asia: A Continental Overview of Environmental Issues (ABC-CLIO, 2003);
Michael C. Howard, Asia‘s Environmental Crisis (Westview, 1993).