China is home to 12% of the world’s grasslands; second largest in the world. The productivity of Chinese grasslands rapidly declined from 10% degraded in 1970 to 90% degraded by the 2000s. Inner Mongolia, China, is composed of 67%, mainly temperate, grasslands. From 1947-2009 human and livestock populations in Inner Mongolia increased from 5.6-24.7 million and 8.4-96.0 million, respectively. These changes were not only due to rising population increasing food demand, but also policy and lifestyle changes. Though climate change and overgrazing are dominant drivers of degradation, research shows that policies increasing privatization of land rights have significant impacts, namely the Household Production Responsibility System (HPRS) of 1949. In China, grassland degradation is linked to environmental problems of sandstorms, losses of biodiversity and carbon sinks, and droughts. Grassland degradation led to widespread public health concerns including dust storms originating from the arid rangelands of Inner Mongolia that swept pollution across major population centers in China and other Asian countries. Inner Mongolia climate change is evident: from 1951-2009 mean temperature increased at 0.28°C per decade, doubling the global linear warming trend of 0.138°C. This temperature increase was accompanied by a 9.9 mm decrease in precipitation per decade, resulting in decreased gross primary productivity measured by Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). This study aims to quantify the Balagaer River Watershed degradation in Inner Mongolia, China from 2000-2019 and explore correlations between climate change, NDVI values, and degradation status. Researchers used GIS analysis of MODIS NDVI data and regressions of NDVI on precipitation and potential evapotranspiration (PET). Differences in NDVI were calculated between years and classified degradation into three categories: slightly, moderately, and heavily degraded. These calculations quantified the percentage of the watershed occupied by each category. Correlations between NDVI and precipitation and NDVI and PET were conducted using Excel at three temporal scales: annual, pre-growing season (October to April), and growing season (May to September). It is expected that decreased precipitation contributed to decreased NDVI.