kids suffer most in one of earth's most polluted citieskids suffer most in one of earth's most polluted cities - personal air purifier

The cold capital of Mongolia is full of coal.
It sits under the chimney of a towering power plant, as big as a football field.
The driver dragged it through the town on the open bed of the pickup truck.
Vendors pile yellow bags on the side of the road, and jagged pieces overflow from round metal barrels, the yurt burned by the poorest families to withstand the cold.
The smoke in Ulanbaatar is sometimes strong and people and buildings can only be seen on the outline.
Its smell is pungent and inevitable.
The air of the soot stung the throat, wowed into the glittering modern office building in the city center, and wowed into the massive buildings of the Soviet Union.
Style apartment towers spread to the mountains on the edge of the city.
On bad days, hand-held pollution monitors minimize with readings exceeding the recommended limit by dozens of times.
The level of particles in the smallest and most dangerous air known as PM-2.
5. once reached the maximum recommended by the World Health Organization by 133 times.
In the harsh winter of Ulanbaatar, pollution is the most serious when people warm up with coal, including round tents known as "gers.
Here, the early morning sun shines through the haze of smoke and diesel smoke near Bayankhoshuu.
The pollution problem in Mongolia is a more serious problem, which is found all over the world.
From the United States and Germany to India and China, air pollution kills about 7 million people worldwide every year.
Coal is one of the main causes of air pollution and climate change.
For now, at least, in Mongolia, coal is essential for a brutal winter.
But the price is huge.
In recent years, Ulanbaatar has grown rapidly and there is no plan because nomadic herdsmen have left the countryside and settled in the suburbs of the city, such as Darry Ek.
They live in Rogers or humble houses, using stoves for heating and cooking.
Authorities have closed the capital School for two full months this winter, starting in the mid-termMid-December
In February, to protect children from toxic air,
It is not clear how effective such measures are.
The size of the hospital is far beyond people's capacity because of the surge in pneumonia cases, especially the youngest, every winter.
Ganjargal Demberel said that I no longer know what a healthy lung sounds like, and a doctor called near Mongolia's famous yurt, hiding in jagged brown hills in the northeast corner of the city.
Especially in winter, everyone has bronchitis or other problems. âx80x9dOne of Dr.
Patient Ganjargal is Gal-
Sumiya, Mongolia, furry-haired seven-month-
He had just had pneumonia when I met him.
His mother, Selengesaikhan Oyundelger, said I can't take him out to breathe any air because it's contaminated.
Almost all the time, she left the older children at home.
In Ulanbaatar, the power plant also burns coal, just like the power plant on the edge of the city.
A patterned pink fabric covers the walls of the home and the wooden poles supporting its circular roof are brightly painted to create a comfortable and intimate living space.
When Selengesaikhan rolled out the mutton dumpling dough, a small stove kept it warm.
When her son was hospitalized, she said, other mothers she met kept talking about pollution: They said they had no confidence in the future of the country.
An area like her, mixed with traditional round tents and simple wood or brick houses, is mostly home to immigrants from the countryside, coming to the capital to seek work and education for former herdsmen.
Because they lack the infrastructure available to apartment residents, reliable power and regional heating systems, as well as water and sanitation facilities, residents shovel coal into small stoves for heating.
A family can easily burn two tons or more each winter.
Smoke from the metal chimneys that come out of each tent and house, ger district is one of the city's most polluted areas.
But the bigger polluters also darken the air in Ulanbaatar.
Huge black feathers float from power plants, smoke also floats from the chimneys of apartment buildings, supermarkets and schools, and maintenance personnel pile coal in large boilers.
In a kindergarten in the Bayanzurkh district, an air purifier is looking after the snoozing child.
Children are particularly vulnerable to air pollution;
There is a purifier in every room of the school.
The dirty air that hangs over the city for half a year poses a serious threat to the health of its people and is also a symptom of a wider range of failures.
Mongolia ended decades of isolation, rejected communism and became a democratic state, and nearly 30 years later it remained a transitional state.
It opens up rich mineral wealth to foreign mining companies that mine gold, copper and, of course, coal from the Gobi desert.
The capital of Mongolia, Ulanbaatar, is located in a narrow valley in a cold place, with deadly smoke hanging over nearly one person.
The world's 5 million most polluted air
Especially in winter, many families are heated by coal stoves.
Particle content of fine soot (PM2. 5)—
The most dangerous air pollution
It can rise to more than 20 times the World Health Organization's safety limit.
In winter, cold, polluted air is trapped near the ground by an inverted object: a warm layer of air above it to prevent the spread of pollutants.
The average annual pm2. 5 level in the 10 most polluted capitals in 2018.
5. micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³)
Air pollution mortality rate (
/100,000 people)Monthly PM2.
5 target in Ulan Bator (10)200 g/m 2001.
New Delhi, India.
Dhaka from Bangladesh
Afghan capital Kabul
MANAMA, Bahrain.
Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
City of Kuwait, kuwait7
Kathmandu, capital of Nepal.
BEIJING, China. Abu Dhabi, U. A. E. 10.
JAKARTA, Indonesia. 597. 161. 859. 858. 556. 054. 450. 948. 845.
Air pollution reached a high level in winter months. S.
NGM employee Source: OPENAQ; 10'162020209ryan MORRIS;
IQAIR air vision 2018 world air quality report;
National meteorological and environmental monitoring bureau of Mongolia; U. S.
Air quality monitoring project of Embassy in Ulanbaatar;
World Health Organization;
In a narrow valley in the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator, deadly smoke hangs over the cold.
The world's 5 million most polluted air
Especially in winter, many families are heated by coal stoves.
In winter, cold, polluted air is trapped near the ground by an inverted object: a warm layer of air above it to prevent the spread of pollutants.
The average annual pm2. 5 level in the 10 most polluted capitals in 2018.
5. micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³)WHO target (10)1.
New Delhi, India.
Dhaka from Bangladesh
Afghan capital Kabul
MANAMA, Bahrain.
Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
City of Kuwait, kuwait7
Kathmandu, capital of Nepal.
BEIJING, China. Abu Dhabi, U. A. E. 10.
JAKARTA, Indonesia. 597. 161. 859. 858. 556. 054. 450. 948. 845. 3Monthly PM2.
5 air pollution at 200 g/m in Ulanbaatar reached a high level in winter
/100,000 people)
200150IndiaChina100Mongolia50U. S.
Source of NGM employee information: OPENAQ;
IQAIR air vision 2018 world air quality report;
National meteorological and environmental monitoring bureau of Mongolia; U. S.
Air quality monitoring project of Embassy in Ulanbaatar;
World Health Organization;
In a narrow valley in the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator, deadly smoke hangs over the cold.
The world's 5 million most polluted air
Especially in winter, many families are heated by coal stoves.
Particle content of fine soot (PM2. 5)—
The most dangerous air pollution
It can rise to more than 20 times the World Health Organization's safety limit.
In winter, cold, polluted air is trapped near the ground by an inverted object: a warm layer of air above it to prevent the spread of pollutants.
The average annual pm2. 5 level in the 10 most polluted capitals in 2018.
5. micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³)
Air pollution mortality rate (
/100,000 people)Monthly PM2.
5 target in Ulan Bator (10)200 g/m 2001.
New Delhi, India.
Dhaka from Bangladesh
Afghan capital Kabul
MANAMA, Bahrain.
Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
City of Kuwait, kuwait7
Kathmandu, capital of Nepal.
BEIJING, China. Abu Dhabi, U. A. E. 10.
JAKARTA, Indonesia. 597. 161. 859. 858. 556. 054. 450. 948. 845.
Air pollution reached a high level in winter months. S.
NGM employee Source: OPENAQ;
IQAIR air vision 2018 world air quality report;
National meteorological and environmental monitoring bureau of Mongolia; U. S.
Air quality monitoring project of Embassy in Ulanbaatar;
World Health Organization;
In a narrow valley in the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator, deadly smoke hangs over the cold.
The world's 5 million most polluted air
Especially in winter, many families are heated by coal stoves.
Particle content of fine soot (PM2. 5)—
The most dangerous air pollution
It can rise to more than 20 times the World Health Organization's safety limit.
In winter, cold, polluted air is trapped near the ground by an inverted object: a warm layer of air above it to prevent the spread of pollutants.
The average annual pm2. 5 level in the 10 most polluted capitals in 2018.
5. micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³)Monthly PM2.
5 death rate of air pollution in Ulan Bator (
/100,000 people)
Target 200g/m200who (10)1.
New Delhi, India.
Dhaka from Bangladesh
Afghan capital Kabul
MANAMA, Bahrain.
Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
City of Kuwait, kuwait7
Kathmandu, capital of Nepal.
BEIJING, China. Abu Dhabi, U. A. E. 10.
JAKARTA, Indonesia. 597. 161. 859. 858. 556. 054. 450. 948. 845.
Air pollution reached a high level in winter months. S.
NGM employee Source: OPENAQ;
IQAIR air vision 2018 world air quality report;
National meteorological and environmental monitoring bureau of Mongolia; U. S.
Air quality monitoring project of Embassy in Ulanbaatar;
World Health Organization;
The Institute for Health indicators and assessment, but it faces a tricky problem: the old nomadic way of life becomes more vulnerable as the environment and economy change, the leader of Ulanbaatar has failed to plan a massive migration to the capital of rural families who are no longer able to sustain the life of raising livestock on windy grasslands.
Mongolia is a country of 3 million people, living almost three times as much in France, but now nearly half of them are crowded in the increasingly polluted capital.
The family of Purevkhuu tserendorj did not migrate from the countryside;
They returned from Los Angeles to Ulanbaatar in 2015, where she and her husband had been studying.
They immediately felt the effects of pollution.
At that time, their children were just born. he started coughing just a few days after landing.
Soon he got pneumonia.
Her friends told her that their children got it several times a year and soon both of her boys got it too.
Purevkhuu, a former television reporter, said it was normal in Mongolia.
But she is not prepared to accept the serious illness.
So on Facebook, she called on angry parents to gather in Sukhbaatar Square, where a statue of Genghis Khan sits in front of the majestic marble Capitol.
It was December 2016 and the temperature was below zero Fahrenheit.
Purvekhuu recalls that mothers don't feel their feet and fingers.
The movement that began that day has grown, but its founders are facing a terrible dilemma.
Her five-year-old son had eye cancer when she was a baby in Los Angeles. A.
To protect his health, she and her husband let him stay with his grandparents in Washington for the time beingC.
, And its pain so far, apart.
Purpurvekhuu said that every morning I woke up missing and dreamed of him.
The family is considering returning to the United States.
But Purevkhuu has become a spokesperson for Air Quality activities in Mongolia, so she is worried that the government will make pollution worse if she leaves.
It's also hard to think about living in Ulanbaatar: she said, I feel very guilty about living in Ulanbaatar.
It has a very serious impact on my child.
Alex haikans, the Mongolian representative of unicorn, believes that air pollution here is not just a public health crisis.
He thinks it's a long term.
A long-term threat to the country-
Permanently scar the lungs, damage the child's brain development and endanger future productivity.
Even if we stop pollution now, we are down to zero today, and many of these problems have been integrated into the health of the population, he said.
Even in schools and hospitals, pollution levels are not on the charts, Heikens said.
In the maternity ward, a baby was born: the first breath of air was 600 micrograms of pm2. 5 per cubic meter.
It is 24 times the acceptable level.
This is not a good start to your life.
So far, the official response has been ineffective, and many Mongols have begun to look at it from a broader perspective.
In recent months, anger over the official corruption scandal has disrupted politics and overturned the speaker of parliament in January.
The word Manan is a mix of the names of the two main parties, and critics use it to suggest that there is no difference between them, with both sides putting personal interests first.
The word also means fog, so it suggests a lack of transparency to hide official crimes.
Today, Manan also mentioned the unnatural fog of pollution.
Economist Jargal Dambadarjaa says the fog is getting stronger and stronger.
Politicians do not serve the people they should be.
Instead, they are serving the people who funded them.
But now the Mongols are crazy.
I really hope we can clean the house soon.
On the issue of pollution, the remedy should start by providing better services to the ger district, where residents are both a major cause of pollution and the most serious victims, experts said.
A study found that the lung capacity of children in the ger area was 40% smaller than that of children in the country.
Health problems.
Although the ger region has grown rapidly in recent years, they have been part of Ulanbaatar for decades, and officials have even neglected to provide basic infrastructure.
The Ger family has enough electric light bulbs and some electrical appliances, but neither the grid connection nor the power supply in the city is enough for them to switch to the electric heating.
Regdel Duger, president of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, said that while most of Mongolia's electricity comes from coal, at least large factories can be regulated and their smoke is treated.
The insulation switch can halve the energy needed to heat each unit, he added.
He advised the government to provide loans to help fund owners to fund these improvements.
Recently, officials have tried to limit growth in the ger area by temporarily banning new immigrants from coming to the city, unless they have the ability to buy or rent a house.
Deputy mayor Batbayasgalan Jantsan said that if you are going to move to the ger area and add more stoves, then I am sorry that we will not host you.
When the immigration ban expires, officials may charge new immigrants, he said.
However, many immigrants are just illegal immigrants.
The power to promote the urbanization of Mongolia is strong.
Young people are attracted to the capital by the prospect of work or better education, such as cities around the world.
But the nomadic peoples of Mongolia were also driven out of the land, as mining accelerated the drought of the grassland through the use of a large amount of groundwater and the destruction of vegetation.
At the same time, the frequency of climate change is increasing.
Two bad weather known as dzud: dry summer and then colder than normal winter.
Resulting in substantial reductions in livestock and livelihoods.
Smog hangs in the center of ulanbato.
Even goats add to the trouble: herdsmen raise them for the sake of lucrative cashmere, but unlike camels, horses and cattle, they tear the plants off the roots and degrade the pasture, and
In addition to efforts to curb immigration, the government plans to move in a higher direction.
Grade coal, the dirtiest fuel grade to enter the city from May.
Health Ministry official Tsogtbaatar Byambaa expects this to help, but he knows there is more to be done.
He raised one hand and said the seriousness of the problem is here.
What we might be doing here is lower than the other one.
We need to bring these closer.
A lot of low-
The stove in Ulanbaatar is filled with grade coal and government-banned coal, from Narah, a suburb of the city. A state-
State-owned companies operated mining operations there until the collapse of 1990.
Now, locals dig dozens of informal, unregulated holes under the huge shell of abandoned buildings.
Mohammed ashmsett is only 18 years old, but he has been doing 12-
Work underground for three consecutive years.
Every morning, he climbs up a shabby metal barrel, the same size and shape as the bathtub, and when the cable holding it is released, he slides down a 200-foot-deep shaft. He and his co-
The workers filled the barrels and the workers shoveled the coal into the pickup truck heading for the city.
Anyway, trade will end legally soon.
In warm places, mine miners dodge the cold wind while resting, and they say that if these mines are forced to close, they hope to have new jobs --
The coal level begins. As another dust
Murat Ahambek said he understood the principles behind this rule.
After all, his family also felt the effects of air pollution.
He said that my wife and daughter often coughed when they came home at night.
However, many observers wonder whether the shift to fine coal can alleviate the symptoms.
Sukhgerel Dugersuren, chairman of a mining watchdog group called Oyu Tolgoi Watch, said Mongolia should have been completely rid of coal for a long time, not just a slightly better one.
But she could hardly see the political will to achieve it.
She said that government officials are unwilling to accept new things, or simply have no capacity, they are interested in toxic fuels financially and intellectually, and are not interested in renewable energy, although Mongolia has abundant wind and sunshine resources.
People are old, their education is old, and their mentality is old.
They were trapped in the box.
More importantly, China's money is easy to use to finance coal mines and power plants, but not clean energy, she said.
While China has invested heavily in renewable energy at home, it still relies on coal and is eager to tap Mongolia's abundant resources.
Ulanbaatar has been suffocated by the use of coal, Sukhgerel said, but she is worried that the way to plan will be more [coal-fired]power plants.
More coal will burn here.