You can't breathe in Ulaanbaatar in the winter . . .

Why? Because of the air pollution. Ulaanbaatar is both the coldest capital city in the world and the second most polluted city in the world. And they go hand in hand--the smog is always worse in the winter, because of coal and wood burning (and sometimes trash burning).

At least 1 in 10 deaths are caused by the air pollution, and residents of the ger settlements are exposed to up to double the pollution levels in the city center, and not always with the means to protect themselves from it.

Programs are in place to replace people's current stoves with cleaning burning ones, to build a subway, to build wind farms (the first one in Mongolia is now running outside of Ulaanbaatar). In short, to lower emissions. But those aren't the only solutions. The best solutions involve curbing the population growth of Ulaanbaatar. In my primate city post I mentioned how the existence of primate cities speaks to an imbalance in the infrastructure. If those imbalances are rectified, if rural areas are properly developed and people don't feel like they have to move to Ulaanbaatar to have a hope of survival, then that will also help control the air pollution.

This great article from The Guardian is what I used as my source for this post. I highly recommend it.

Thanks for reading along with me for the past semester! I may or may not write more, but this is the last post inspired by a topic from the latest textbook chapter. I appreciate your support!