VOA文化艺术2023--Pastoralists Modernizing to Deal With Climate Change, New Lifestyles

Pastoralists Modernizing¹ to Deal With Climate Change, New Lifestyles

More than 50 million people in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere follow pastoralism as a way of life. They keep animals and move with them to find lands from which their animals can eat. They often sell some of their animals as meat also.

Pastoralism has supported these populations for much of history. But it faces pressure from worsening environments, reductions of pastoral lands, and new generations who seek a less difficult life. At the same time, pastoralism is modernizing, with groups using new technologies.

The practice has survived for so long because it is designed to change with the environment. Pastoralists move with animals to find new lands and water, leaving behind eaten plants to regrow.

Experts say pastoralism can teach those that keep animals in industrial numbers to change with the climate and reduce their effects on the environment. Pastoralists are not only trying to keep up with climate change; they are fighting it.

Mongolian herders

Mongolia is well known for its pastoralism. The practice is even included in the nation's constitution. It calls its 80 million animals, including camels, yaks², cows, sheep, goats, and horses, as "national wealth" protected by the state.

Agvaantogtokh and his family are herders. On horseback, he rides with nearly a thousand sheep and goats to help them find water. Sometimes, he and his wife, Nurmaa, stop to help struggling young ones, weak after a difficult winter.

For families like Agvaantogtokh's, pastoralism is more than a profession. It is a cultural identity that connects generations. At its heart is the human connection to animals.

Agvaantogtokh and his family sell animals for meat. They also sell dairy products such as yogurt and hard cheeses. While they consider the animals as their property, they also see them as living beings working alongside³ them.

Researchers say herders believe in "animal agency." Agvaantogtokh lets his animals choose the food they eat and where they find water. To him, restricting an animal's movement and asking it to eat the same thing each day is like putting a person in prison.

In Mongolia, weather extremes are a part of life. When Agvaantogtokh thinks about climate change, he is concerned about humans and animals.

Continuous dry and warm weather affects Mongolia. Since 1940, the government says, average temperatures have risen 2.2 degrees Celsius⁴. Dzuds – natural disasters special to Mongolia caused by dry weather and severe snowy winters – have grown harsher⁶ and happen more often.

A dzud pushed Agvaantogtokh and his family to move out after a disastrous⁷ winter killed 400 of their animals.

Ancient practice, new methods

To keep their practice alive, pastoralists seek ways to modernize⁸.

In Mongolia, Lkhaebum recently began using a small vehicle to more easily search for horses. The family uses electricity and has other technologies including a television and clothes washing machine. They also use a cellphone to follow the weather and access social media where herders share information.

One of the biggest threats to pastoralism comes from within, as the next generation chooses other paths.

Nurmaa and Agvaantogtokh's 18-year old daughter studies medicine. Their son spoke⁹ about becoming a herder when he was a child, but not anymore.

"I won't regret anything if my child won't be a herder," Nurmaa said. She added, "I would like them to do what they aspire¹⁰ to do."

Words in This Story

pastoralism – n. livestock¹¹ raising

herder – v. to gather and move (a group of animals)

diary – n. milk or food made from milk (such as ice cream, cheese, or yogurt)

harsh⁵ – adj. having an unpleasant or harmful effect because of great strength or force: too intense or powerful

 

aspire – v. to want to have or achieve something (such as a particular career or level of success)

1 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

2 yaks   

牦牛( yak的名词复数 )； 笑话

参考例句：

• The jokes get yaks. 那笑话引人发笑。
• Social species including birds, fish and yaks must have companionship. 习惯群居的生物，包括鸟类、鱼类和（牛毛）牛必须有伙伴。

3 alongside   

adv.在旁边；prep.和...在一起，在...旁边

参考例句：

• There was a butcher's shop alongside the theatre.剧院旁边有一家肉店。
• Alongside of him stood his uncle.他的身旁站着他叔叔。

4 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

5 harsh   

adj.严厉（酷）的，刺耳的，刺目的，毛糙的

参考例句：

• The sunlight is very harsh.太阳光很刺眼。
• Although his words are harsh,there is positiveness in them.虽然他的话很苛刻，但有建设性。

6 harsher   

adj.刺耳的( harsh的比较级 )；粗糙的；严厉的；残酷的

参考例句：

• The plant flourishes particularly well in slightly harsher climes. 这种植物在气候条件稍差一点的地区长势尤其好。 来自辞典例句
• Other mathematicians attacked analytic methods in harsher language. 别的数学家用比较粗鲁的语言攻击分析方法。 来自辞典例句

7 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

8 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

11 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。