Ulaanbaatar air pollution

Traditional dwellings in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, are responsible for 60% of the city's air pollution during the long winter months. Images taken between 8th - 16th December. Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, 08/12/2009

With more than one million residents, Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, holds over a third of the country's entire population. More than half of the city's population lives in traditional Mongolian homes, either small wooden houses or gers (known to English speakers as yurts) in areas called ger districts surrounding the city's center. These districts are linked to the electric grid, but not to the central heating and water systems. Ulaanbaatar has an average minimum temperature below 0 degrees celsius for 8 months of the year. During this time, the 135,000 households in the ger districts burn wood, coal, and other fuels for heat, creating 60% of the city's winter air pollution. The city is also home to a handful of coal-fired power plants and an ever-growing number of cars. The smog is thick and visible even on ground level. At night, when nearly every family has a fire lit, you can feel the pollution in your throat, and your clothes carry the distinctive smell of burned coal once returning home. Many Ulaanbaatar residents site the air pollution as a major problem.