The coming spring promises more, not less, hardship for Mongolia's nomad households. The pastures are covered with snow, with no signs of sprouts emerging. The stocks of hay built up last autumn are already depleted, and many sheep and horses -- essential assets of the nomads -- are on the verge of starvation.

The snow damage, now in its second year, is likely to be the worst since the end of World War II. A U.N. relief group estimates that 6 million head of livestock, or roughly 20 percent of all livestock in the republic, will have died in the five months beginning last December. An estimated 3 million head already starved to death last winter. That is more than Mongolia's population of 2.6 million. A Japanese volunteer just back from near Ulan Bator, the capital, gives a grim account of animals dying daily. Starving beasts, she says, were so sick they could not even take liquid food.

After the end of the Cold War, the former communist state of Mongolia embarked on a painful program of democratic and market reforms. While the campaign created confusion in the modern industrial sector, it spared the traditional livestock industry that supports the country's predominantly nomadic population. However, two years of heavy snow have dealt a crippling blow to that key industry. The Central Asian republic now faces a national crisis. International groups are coming to the rescue, but geography and climate appear to be working against them. Recently, a U.N. helicopter on a survey mission crashed, killing nine people, including an NHK reporter.