Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Transboundary hazard risk: the Gobi desert paradigm

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Natural Hazards Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Transboundary hazard risk reflects how different societies interact with disaster in a shared landscape. In the Gobi desert of northern China and southern Mongolia recurring drought, extreme cold, wind and dust storms are the dominant hazards yet disasters vary significantly in the two countries. Research examined national approaches to environmental engagement and livelihoods in the desert through an assessment of disaster risk in two Gobi communities; farmers in Gansu Province, China, and herders in Dundgov and Omnogov Provinces, Mongolia. Exposure and resilience was evaluated and work examined how risk factors are shaped by policy, economics, culture and social memory. Comparison between two state systems reveals how disaster risk and vulnerability are shaped as much by human action as by the physical climatic event. China stressed government-led disaster management whilst Mongolia emphasised adaptation to hazards. Integrating multiple divisions within a hazard zone is essential to address risk reduction; without this disaster mitigation remains state-specific and lacks applicability to a wider area or global context.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The table reflects assessment of data from the China Meteorological Administration and National Agency for Meteorology in Mongolia (IPCC 2012; Sternberg et al. 2011), discussion with officials and experts, research and reading on degradation and desertification (see Yang et al. 2005; Meyer 2006; Sternberg et al. 2010; Wang et al. 2008; Fernandez-Gimenez et al. 2012; Wang et al. 2013) and work on hazards in the region (see Tachiiri et al. 2008; Sternberg et al. 2009; Marin 2010; Nandintsetseg and Shinoda 2013; Huang et al. 2013).

  2. Nomadic Pastoralism—livestock production and land use that stresses mobility and is characterised by extensive grazing on rangelands; this differs from nomadism which implies having no fixed base and movements that do not follow a fixed pattern.

    Mobile herding—represents herders’ ability to migrate in accordance with seasonal or ecological conditions. In Mongolia this identifies flexibility and mobility as integral livelihood strategies.

    Transhumance—regular seasonal movements from one pasture to another; in Mongolia mobility may follow a climatic, vegetation or altitudinal rotation throughout the year. Transhumance enables mitigation of harsh environmental conditions (drought, extreme winter, heat), access to better grazing and avoidance of disease or insect infestations.

References

  • Akata N, Hasegawa H, Kawabata H, Chikuchi Y, Sato T, Ohtsuka Y, Kondo K, Hisamatsu S (2007) Deposition of 137Cs in Rokkasho, Japan and its relation to Asian dust. J Environ Radioact 95:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angerer J, Han G, Fujisaki I, Havstad K (2008) Climate change and ecosystems of Asia with emphasis on Inner Mongolia and Mongolia. Rangelands J 30:46–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bodleian Library (2012) Seldon map. www.seldenmap.bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Accessed 24 Sept 2012

  • Bulag U (2009) Mongolia in 2009: from landlocked to land-linked cosmopolitan. Asian Surv 50:97–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • China Meteorological Society (CMA) (2011) www.2011.cma.gov.cn/en/. Accessed 12 March 2012

  • China National progress report on the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (2011–2013) (2012) www.preventionweb.net/files/28446_chn_NationalHFAprogress_2011-13.pdf. Accessed 5 April 2013

  • Economist (2012) Booming Mongolia: mine all mine. www.economist.com/node/21543113. Accessed 22 Jan 2012

  • Em-Dat (2012) International disaster database. www.emdat.be. Accessed 25 Sept 2012

  • Fernandez-Gimenez M, Le Febre S (2006) Mobility in pastoral systems: dynamic flux or downward trend? Int J Sust Dev World 13:341–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Gimenez M, Wang X, Batkhisig B, Klein J, Reid R (2012) Restoring community connections to the land. CABI, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández-Giménez ME, Batkhishig B, Batbuyan B (2012a) Cross-boundary and cross-level dynamics increase vulnerability to severe winter disasters (dzud) in Mongolia. Glob Environ Chang 836–851

  • Forsyth F (1877) On the buried cities in shifting sands of the great desert of Gobi. Proc R Geograph Soc Mon Record Geograph, New Mon Ser 47:1–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang J, Liu Y, Ma L, Su F (2013) Methodology for the assessment and classification of regional vulnerability to natural hazards in China: the application of a DEA mode. Nat Hazards 65:115–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2012) Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation. A special report of working groups I and II of the Intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 582

    Google Scholar 

  • Kampragoua E, Apostolakia S, Manolia E, Froebrich J, Assimacopoulosa D (2011) Towards the harmonization of water-related policies for managing drought risks across the EU. Environ Sci Policy 14:815–824

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kasperson R (2010) Science and disaster reduction. Int J Disaster Risk Sci 1:3–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Lacy D (2008) The Chinese State at the borders. UBC Press, Vancouver

    Google Scholar 

  • Li W, Huntsinger L (2011) China’s grassland contract policy and its impacts on herder ability to benefit in Inner Mongolia: tragic feedbacks. Ecol Soc 16:1

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma J, Wang X, Edmunds M (2005) The characteristics of ground-water resources and their changes under the impacts of human activity in the arid Northwest China—a case study of the Shiyang River Basin. J Arid Environ 61:277–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marin A (2010) Riders under storms: contributions of nomadic herders’ observations to analysing climate change in Mongolia. Glob Environ Chang 20:162–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer N (2006) Desertification and restoration of Grasslands in Inner Mongolia. J For 104:328–331

    Google Scholar 

  • Middleton N, Sternberg T (2013) Climate hazards in deserts: a review. Earth Sci Rev. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2013.07.008

  • Mongolia: National progress report on the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (2009–2011) (2011). www.preventionweb.net/files/18911_mng_NationalHFAprogress_2009-11.pdf. Accessed 2 Nov 2011

  • NAMHEM—National Agency for Meterology, Hydrology and Environmental Management (2011) Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia

  • Nandintsetseg B, Shinoda M (2013) Assessment of drought frequency, duration and severity and its impact on pasture production in Mongolia. Nat Hazards 66:995–1008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peduzzi P, Dao H, Herold C, Mouton F (2009) Assessing global exposure and vulnerability towards natural hazards: the Disaster Risk Index. Nat Hazards Earth Sys 9:1149–1159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg T (2010) Unravelling Mongolia’s extreme winter disaster of 2010. Nomadic People 14:72–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg T (2014) Desert boundaries: the once and future Gobi. Geogr J (in press)

  • Sternberg T, Batbuyan B (2013) Integrating the hyogo framework into Mongolia’s disaster (DRR) policy. I J Dis Risk Reduct. doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2013.05003

  • Sternberg T, Rueff H, Middleton N (in review) Contraction of the Gobi Desert 2000–2012. Climatic Change

  • Sternberg T, Middleton N, Thomas D (2009) Pressurized pastoralism in South Gobi Province, Mongolia: what is the role of drought? T I Brit Geogr 34:364–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg T, Tsolmon R, Middleton N, Thomas D (2010) Tracking desertification on the Mongolian Steppe through NDVI and field-survey data. Int J Digit Earth 3:1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg T, Thomas D, Middleton N (2011) Drought dynamics on the Mongolian Steppe 1970–2006. Int J Climatol 31:1823–1830

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoppato M, Bini A (2003) Deserts. Firely Books, Toronto

    Google Scholar 

  • Tachiiri K, Shinoda M, Klinkenberg B, Morinaga Y (2008) Assessing Mongolian snow disaster risk using livestock and satellite data. J Arid Environ 72:2251–2263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trabucco A, Zomer R (2009) Global Aridity Index (Global-Aridity) and Global Potential Evapo-Transpiration (Global-PET) Geospatial Database. CGIAR Consortium for Spatial Information. CGIAR-CSI GeoPortal. www.cgiar-csi.org. Accessed 22 September 2012

  • United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNIDSR) (2007) “Hyogo framework for action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters”, World Conference on disasters reduction. www.unisdr.org/files/1037_hyogoframeworkforactionenglish.pdf. Accessed 3 Nov 2012

  • von Humboldt A, Bonpland A (1819) Personal narrative of travels to the equinoctial regions of the new continent during the years 1799–1804, vol 4, London

  • Wang X, Chen F, Hasi E, Li J (2008) Desertification in China: an assessment. Earth-Sci Rev 88:188–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang F, Chen Y, Shoa X, Zhang Y, Cao Y (2013) Combating desertification in China: past, present and future. Land Use Policy 31:311–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilhite D (2005) Drought as hazard: understanding the natural and social context. In: Wilhite (ed), Drought and water crises. Taylor & Francis, London

  • Xuan J, Sokolik I, Hao J, Guo F, Mao H, Yang G (2004) Identification and characterization of sources of atmospheric mineral dust in East Asia. Atmos Environ 38:6239–6252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X, Zhang K, Jia B, Ci L (2005) Desertification assessment in China: an overview. J Arid Environ 63:517–531

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yi L, Ge L, Zhao D, Zhou J, Gao Z (2012) An analysis on disasters management system in China. Nat Hazards 60:295–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zahran S, Grover H, Brody S, Vedlitz A (2008) Risk, stress, and capacity: explaining Metropolitan commitment to climate protection. Urban Aff Rev 43:447–474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang M, Borjigin E, Zhang H (2007) Mongolian nomadic culture and ecological culture: on the ecological reconstruction in the agro-pastoral mosaic zone in Northern China. Ecol Econ 62:19–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zou M, Yuan Y (2010) China’s comprehensive disaster reduction. Int J Dis Risk Sci 1:24–32

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author thanks the Royal Geographical Society’s Thesiger-Oman International Desert Research Fellowship for generous fieldwork support and the British Academy for funding. The UK-China Visiting Scholar Exchange enabled 2 months of fieldwork (May–July 2011) in China. Dr. Henri Rueff, Researcher Yang Yang Yang, Dr. Batbuyan and Dr. Cao made valuable research contributions. Lanzhou University, the Chinese Academy of Social Science, Institute of Anthropology and Ethnology, the Hazard and Risk Science Base at Beijing Normal University and the Mongolian Institute of Geography were supportive of the study. Two reviewers’ comments strengthened the final manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography, Oxford University, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK

    Troy Sternberg

Authors
  1. Troy Sternberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Troy Sternberg.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sternberg, T. Transboundary hazard risk: the Gobi desert paradigm. Nat Hazards 72, 533–548 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-1022-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-1022-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation