Mongolian Steppeland

In a survey conducted in 1997 by Chinese scientists and officials that monitor the situation closely, 27.3% of the landmass was classified as a desert; this number is up from a reported 15.9% desert in 1993. This means that over ten years ago, Mongolia was losing grasslands at a rate of 2,460 sq km per year; this is up from the 2,100 sq km per year through the 1980’s, hence the transnational attention (Williams 504). The levels of scientific knowledge pertinent to this situation are multi-tiered, going from multinational, Chinese national, all the way down to the local, indigenous level.