Pastoral systems, where humans depend on livestock, exist largely in arid or semi-arid ecosystems where climate is highly variable. Thus, in many ways pastoral livestock systems are intimately adapted to climatic variability. In general, there is a direct relationship between climate variability and the spatial scale of pastoral exploitation. Extensive nomadic systems are found in the most variable regions; less extensive, more intensive modes of livestock management occur in areas where forage dependability is more secure. Long-term climate dynamics in dry lands can thus be expected to have important implications on the viability of pastoral people and their land use patterns in Mongolia. During the past several decades, changes in climate variability, ecosystem dynamics and socioeconomic factors are interacting in novel ways to determine nomadic land use systems in Mongolia. There are direct links between nomadic land use systems and ecosystem dynamics. Interactions between ecosystems and nomadic land use systems have and continue to co-shape them in mutually adaptive ways, thus making both the Mongolian rangeland ecosystem and nomadic pastoral system resilient and sustainable. However, multiple stressors associated with socio-economic and environmental factors can affect this long-term interaction between land-use and long-term sustainable nomadic pastoral systems in Mongolia. Mongolian pastoral systems are very sensitive to climate variability and extreme events, such as drought, fires, pests, and zud (the Mongolian term used for a severe-for -livestock winter condition). Traditional resilience of pastoral community-cultural landscape systems is being affected by climate and socio-economic changes related to mining and goat-cashmere production activities which have led to a loss in resilience and further degradation of the rangelands, riparian areas, and water bodies. Experts term it as an example of “tragedy of the commons”. However, there is still hope for sustainable transformation pathway to conserve the ecological, social and cultural resilience associated with these steppe ecosystems (in all dust and sandstorm source areas). The traditional pastoral community-cultural landscape systems can be strengthened with the introduction of modern technologies such as renewable energy and wireless communications.