ULAN BATOR, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- At least 40 percent of Mongolia's territory is now at high risk of experiencing the extreme wintry weather "dzud" this winter, the country's National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring said Friday.
The dzud is a Mongolian term to describe a severely cold winter when many livestock die because the ground is frozen or covered in snow.
"A recent risk assessment of the dzud indicates that at least 40 percent of the country's total territory faces a high risk of dzud this winter, while 20 percent is categorized as medium risk," the weather monitoring agency said in a statement.
Most areas in the five western provinces, Bayan-Ulgii, Uvs, Khovd, Zavkhan, and Gobi-Altai, are at high or very high risk, the agency warned.
Additionally, some parts of the northern provinces, Khuvsgul, Selenge, and Bulgan, the central provinces of Arkhangai and Uvurkhangai, and smaller areas of the southern provinces of Bayankhongor and Dundgovi are also at high risk.
The agency urged local authorities and nomadic herders to prepare for potential challenges to mitigate the impacts of the harsh winter conditions.
Mongolia, one of the world's last remaining nomadic nations, is known for its extreme winters, largely shaped by the Siberian high-pressure system.
Last winter, the Asian country experienced its heaviest snowfall in five decades, leading to a severe dzud that resulted in the loss of millions of livestock. ■
