• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • FAQ
  • Meet the Team
  • About The London Economic
  • Advertise
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
NEWSLETTER
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News Environment

‘Eternal ice’ of Mongolian steppes is melting for first time in memory

Northern Mongolia’s mountainous tundra is home to ‘munkh mus’ - or ‘eternal ice’: patches of ice which remain intact even in the summer.

Jim Leffman by Jim Leffman
November 20, 2019
in Environment, News

The ‘eternal ice’ of the northern Mongolian steppes is melting for the first time in memory, threatening to wipe out herds of reindeer.

Northern Mongolia’s mountainous tundra is home to ‘munkh mus’ – or ‘eternal ice’: patches of ice which remain intact even in the summer.

For the native Tsaatan people, who are heavily reliant on reindeer-herding, they provide a place for heat-stressed reindeer to cool down, as well as fresh water and a reprieve from swarms of summer insects.

But, according to a new study from the Max Planck Institute in Germany and the University of Colorado-Boulder in the US, that ice is melting fast – threatening a centuries-old way of life.

Protected Area of Mongolia

Visiting the Ulaan Taiga Special Protected Area of Mongolia, the study authors conducted a vast archaeological survey and interviewed eight Tsaatan families.

The Tsaatan, who live along the Russian border in Mongolia’s Khuvsgul province, are the world’s lowest-latitude population of domestic reindeer herders.

They explained how many of the ‘eternal’ ice patches had melted for the first time in memory between 2016 and 2018, emphasising their importance for both the reindeer and the families that herd them.

RelatedPosts

Boris Johnson says he is “deeply sorry” as official death toll passes 100,000

EU citizens offered £2k to leave UK under resettlement scheme

‘Brexit is providing another theme for scammers to use’ – Warning over text message scam

Lidl hands “thank you” bonus to 23k UK workers for their hard work during the pandemic

Many complained that the recent changes in climate had led to increased sickness and death among their reindeer herds.

Climate change

Archaeologist William Taylor, who led the research, said: “What’s unique about reindeer herding is how closely it’s tied to this very fragile thing – the ice.

“This study shows us that global climate change is an urgent threat in Inner Asia.

“Melting ice is threatening both reindeer herding as a way of life, and the region’s cultural heritage.”

The patches of ice, which are nestled in the crooks between hills of the Sayan Mountains, also contain some of the area’s only archaeological evidence of the deeper history or reindeer herding.

Dr Taylor, who is also a curator of the University of Colorado Boulder’s Natural History Museum, added: “If we lose these unique cultural systems and ways of life, we’re losing the diversity of approaches and knowledge that we have as a species to deal with the future.”

The researchers also carried out an archaeological survey of 11 melting ice patches.

In the process they unearthed several artefacts – including two carved branches that may have once been part of a fishing pole.

Similar discoveries, the team reported, could vanish forever in the melting ice.

Study co-leader Julia Clark, an archaeologist at Flinders University, said: “Archaeology is non-renewable. Once the ice has melted and these artifacts are gone, we can never get them back.”

Dr Taylor added: “The Tsaatan are literally at the front lines of climate change.

“These are folks that contributed nothing to the problem that we find ourselves in globally, but they’re the ones paying the first price.”

The research is published today in the journal PLOS ONE.

Companies could be delisted for not tackling climate change in Labour’s ‘stakeholder economy’

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Support fearless, free, investigative journalism Support fearless, free, investigative journalism Support fearless, free, investigative journalism

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending fromTLE

  • All
  • trending

Stress, fear and homelessness: The threat looming over families confronted with eviction

File photo dated 07/11/03 of a prison cell.

The other prison pandemic

Credit;PA

Repressionomics: Get ready for the new permanent austerity

Latest from TLE

Image by AdobeStock

Weather forecast, alerts and UVB index for London, Wednesday 27 January 2021

Lucky Numbers and Horoscopes for today, 27 January 2021

#BorisHasFailedTheNation trends on Twitter after PM says we did “all we could”

Euro Millions results Tuesday 26th January 2021

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: jack@thelondoneconomic.com

Commercial enquiries, please contact: advertise@thelondoneconomic.com

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech & Auto
  • About The London Economic
  • Meet the Team
  • Privacy policy

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.