90% Of Mongolia Under Snow; China Breaks All-Time Cold Records; Gansu Quake Kills 131; Guatemala's Lowest Temperature In 30-Years; More PSCs; + Earth-Directed Flare

The COLD TIMES are returning...

90% Of Mongolia Under Snow

Some 90% of the Mongolian territory is covered in snow -- across large areas, the depth is reported as being 15 inches (38 cm).

The country's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has warned that these conditions are increasing the risk "dzud" -- a natural phenomenon unique to Mongolia where heavy snow and extreme cold result in insufficient grazing for livestock.

The past few cold seasons have proved increasingly brutal across the rugged expanses of Mongolia, culminating in the deadly winter of 2022-23 which left herder families without livestock and so facing severe food shortages, warned Save the Children.

Even into the month of May, 13 of Mongolia’s 21 provinces were still suffering a dzud.

And with the new winter season commencing ahead of schedule --with a big freeze in early-Nov killing eight herders, including a 12-year-old boy who perished helping his family tend to their herds amidst fierce snowstorms-- the trend of cold is continued.

Between 1940 and 2015, official “dzud declarations” where made twice a decade. In recent years, however, dzuds have increased in frequency with occurrences now happening annually.