"Welcome to the coldest capital city on earth — Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia — where the temperature can drop to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit at night. The city's population has nearly tripled since 1989. Without infrastructure to service all 1.4 million people, residents off the electric grid are burning raw coal to stay warm.
The result? Winters with extreme air pollution.
Air quality correlates with the thermostat. When temperatures drop, the streets grow hazy. City dwellers walk with their heads down well into February, noses buried in jackets and face masks. The air pollution stings their eyes and perfumes their clothes with an acrid, rotten egg smell. Coal dependence is wreaking havoc on Mongolians' health."
Emily Kwong reports for NPR July 30, 2019.
SEE ALSO:
"The Deadly Winters That Have Transformed Life For Herders In Mongolia" (NPR)
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