Mongolia is the world’s second-largest landlocked country, and its Gobi region, bordering China, consists of deserts and barren landscapes, accounting for over 40% of the country’s total area. Mongolia has a dry and arid climate, with the northern region where the capital is located receiving an average annual precipitation of around 300 to 400 millimeters, while the southern Gobi desert area receives less than 150 millimeters. Mongolia experiences large diurnal temperature variations, and the transition between cold winters and cool summers is abrupt.
However, the cold Mongolia is gradually becoming hotter.
Enkhbat, in an interview with Xinhua News Agency, mentioned that in the past 40 years, the number of hot days in Mongolia has increased by nearly 20 days per year. In less than 15 years, the country has experienced the hottest decade in the past 80 years.
Against the backdrop of global warming, Mongolia may be crossing the tipping point of climate change, which is the critical threshold from one stable climate state to another. A study published in Science in 2020 revealed that a team from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, using observations of tree rings and other methods, found that the soil moisture in Mongolia is anomalously at its lowest point in nearly 260 years. Currently, the frequency of compound extreme events, such as heatwaves and droughts occurring simultaneously in summer, is significantly increasing, and this changing trend has surpassed the climate tipping point, potentially becoming irreversible.
Enkhbat also mentioned that drought and heat have caused 1,244 rivers and lakes in the country to dry up or stop flowing.
