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Arid environments

Life on the Margins: Natural Hazards in the Gobi Desert

  • Key Stage Five,
  • Module,
  • Landscape systems,
  • Hazards and risk,
  • Environmental interactions and management
  • Overview
  • Lesson one: Advice on good research methodologies
  • Lesson two: Physical and human causes of natural hazards in the Gobi Desert – Mongolia and China
  • Lesson three: Impacts of hazards in the Gobi Desert

Key words

  • Marginal area

  • Qualitative/quantitative research

  • Food security

  • Governance

  • Globalisation

  • Rural to urban migration

Summary

Dr Troy Sternberg’s fieldwork and research has focused on hazards in the Gobi Desert, Asia. Natural hazards in the region include drought, dzud (extreme winters) and other challenging climate conditions which affect livelihoods in the region. At present none of the regions are facing immediate food insecurity, mainly due to government intervention. However, society in the Gobi Desert is changing quickly and this is likely to have future impacts for food security and the environment, both locally and globally.

Research techniques

  • Data collection was carried out in May and June 2012 in three contrasting study locations - Minqin county China, Xilingol Inner Mongolia, China and Omnogov and Dundgov provinces in Mongolia

  • The main research method was qualitative research through extended interviews, discussions and site observations

  • Quantitative research included was climate data produced by the local government in China.

Aims

Troy's research aims to investigate how natural hazards interact with societies and the environment in the Gobi Desert, focusing on:

  • Hazard identification and the evolving climate

  • The impacts on human systems, including food security

  • The impacts on social structures within communities

  • The differences between government intervention in the different regions are studied

Key topics and themes

  • Natural Hazards in dryland and semi-dryland environments

  • Nomadic Pastoralists - Challenges and Changes 

  • Food production in dry lands - traditional nomadic methods vs. Modern high tech farming methods

  • The impact of mining and intensive farming and the changes in society this creates - potential future food insecurity issues

  • Differences in government intervention 

  • The impact on world food security and world food prices of changing food production in this area of Asia

About the author

Lydia Williams is Head of Geography at JFS, a comprehensive school in north London, and in her tenth year of teaching. Her department aims to challenge and inspire their students through fascinating and topical geography, relevant to London teenagers living in a 21st century globalised world and make fieldwork a key part of their experience of geography.  She has taught as part of the LSE Choice Saturday Programme - a Gifted and Talented Geography programme for Year 13 students. She started her life as a geographer growing up in the fantastic coastal environment of Poole, Dorset, followed by a Geography degree at Hertford College, Oxford University and a PGCE at Exeter University

The researcher

Dr. Troy Sternberg is a current researcher at the School of Geography at the University of Oxford. Deserts, nomads and states in transition attracted Troy to Geography. Vast, exquisite perspectives and enduring lives in drylands and steppes from Wyoming to Mongolia became his research interest.  He is a member of the Landscape Dynamics research cluster. Troy’s current research focuses on how natural hazards interact with societies and the environment in the Gobi Desert, Asia.

 

'From the field' Awards - Inspiring fieldwork supported by the RGS-IBG

Delivered in collaboration with The Goldsmiths' Company, these awards enable geography teachers to work alongside practioners at the cutting edge of geographical research to develop educational resources for the classroom.

Downloads

  • Arid Environments Teachers Notes (.doc)
  • Arid Environments Teachers Notes (.pdf)
  • Arid Environments Glossary (.doc)
  • Arid Environments Glossary (.pdf)
  • Arid Environments A-level Syllabus Links (.doc)
  • Arid Environments A-level Syllabus Links (.pdf)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 1 Student Task Sheet (.doc)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 1 Student Task Sheet (.pdf)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 1 Ask the expert article (.doc)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 1 Ask the expert article (.pdf)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 1 Life on the margins: The Gobi Desert Presentation (.pptx)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 2 Student Task Sheet (.doc)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 2 Student Task Sheet (.pdf)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 2 Article Summary (.doc)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 2 Article Summary (.pdf)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 2 Life on the margins: The Gobi Destert Presentation (.pptx)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 3 Student Task Sheet (.doc)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 3 Student Task Sheet (.pdf)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 3 Ask the experts article (.doc)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 3 Ask the experts article (.pdf)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 3 Gobi desert exemplar revision sheet (.doc)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 3 Gobi desert exemplar revision sheet (.pdf)
  • Arid Environments Lesson 3 Life on the margins: The Gobi Desert Presentation (.pptx)
  • Arid Environments Follow Up Task Sheet (.doc)
  • Arid Environments Follow Up Task Sheet (.pdf)
  • Arid Environments Follow Up Powerpoint Presentation (.ppt)
  • Download all

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