Herders rely on snow for drinking water for their animals. (Photo : Google)
Despite reporting temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius this year, the Hulun Buir prairie has barely seen any snow across its grassland spanning 250,000 square kilometers in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
On Sunday morning, herders rejoiced as snowflakes started falling. However, the snowfall ended shortly after it began, also ending their cheers.
According to Jiang Fengyou, the head of the local meteorological center, more than 90 percent of the prairie has yet to see any snow, something very unusual for this time of year.
Jiang said that the change in the weather patterns of the prairie was caused by the El Nino. He said that there has not been enough cold air to form snow.
Baolide Baatar's 500 sheep compete for the little water that is available to them, most of which are partially hidden by dust whipped up from the dry soil.
"We are lucky that we have a well, I dread to think what it would be like otherwise," Baatar said.
Baatar added that he has never seen so little snow in his life. The older members of the prairie's community are starting to fear that the lack of snow may cause "black disaster," a term they use to refer to when entire herds die due to lack of water.
Local herders are concerned that the animals in the prairie may start losing weight if they only drink water from the well, affecting their ability to reproduce, said Temuqiletu, a local official. However, he is not too worried as most herders have access to wells or water wagons, making black disaster unlikely.
Jiang said that drought may soon end as snow is forecast to fall in early December.
