The Problem of Air Pollution in Mongolia

Mongolia is a Central Asian country bordered by China and Russia, known for its huge tracts of largely empty grassland, frozen winters and nomadic history. Mongolia is an independent, landlocked nation. Mongolia’s absolute location is 46.8625 North and 103.8476 East and is located in both the northern and southern hemisphere. Mongolia has a total land area is 1,564,116 kms. Mongolia's economy is heavily influenced by its neighboring countries. 21.8% of the country's GDP comes from mining. Over the past 25 years, Mongolia's economy has established itself into a superb democracy in which GDP per capita has tripled. Mongolia's economy suffered hard during the macroeconomic crisis in 2016, but surely recovered very strong. The economy was raised by 7.3% in the first half of 2019 and 7.2% in 2018 in comparison to 2016 where the economy was only raised by 1.2%. Ulaanbaatar is the capital city of Mongolia, with over half the population living in the city. In 2017, 68.36 percent of the entire population lived in urban areas. Urbanization has become one of the country’s biggest development issues. Once before, construction cranes spread across Ulaanbaatar’s skyline and buildings would seem to appear overnight are of the past. Although the extreme population growth of Mongolia during 2011-2013 was very unexpected, a mix of factors, including elaborate government spending and the decline of revenue from commodity exports, has paused the country’s GDP growth percent in 2016.

The most polluted air in Mongolia is in the cities capital, Ulaabaatar, where over 46% of the population lives. The air in the city is known for the excessive amount of particulate matter. Industrialization is one of the main causes of air pollution in Mongolia. Indoor air pollution is a serious problem in Mongolia. Burning of raw coal and biomass as fuels in houses and flawed air flow only adds to the problem. Mongolia experiences very cold winters (which have temperatures averaging under zero from November to March) and cold nights. For this matter, Mongolians want plenty of power for heating and energy for cooking. Within the gers (traditional Mongolian living areas), coal is the most used form of gasoline. The burning of coal and biomass (including wood, crop residue and many others.) in easy stoves are all factors as to why the air in the living spaces have increased levels of Carbon Monoxide and particulate matter. From 1995-2002, cars in Ulaanbaatar doubled. About 80% of automobiles in the city no longer meet emission or gas performance requirements. Thus, vehicles end up adding 70 tons of pollution to the air annually. The rise of vehicles in the city has resulted in growing levels of Nitrogen Dioxide. There is also an expanded use of power for heating purposes in the cold season, which leads to an increased range of air pollutants. In the winter, 3 diesel power plants in Ulaanbaatar release around 4.5 million cubic meters of pollution. 250 steam boilers burn over 350,000 tons of coal every year, and gers and houses with manual heating burn over 199,999 cubic meters of gas timber each year. Suspended particulate matter appears more in cold weather months. The average amount of particulate concentration in the air are 3 times higher than worldwide standards. Particulate concentrations were shown to correlate with young demise. In the cold seasons, the atmospheric content of carbon monoxide is 4 times the permitted quantity and severe breathing illnesses (like tuberculosis and other lung diseases) are proven to be more common.

Air pollution is a child health disaster in Ulaanbaatar, putting every infant and pregnancy at hazard. The dangers consist of stillbirth, preterm birth, lower birth weight, pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma and demise. There is proof that air pollution can cause impaired cognitive development, which is a disorder that causes a lack of simple memory and thinking skills. This disease can fold out to a type of dementia or Alzhemiers when the child grows up. Thus, kids can be at higher chance for chronic health issues. Some respiratory health issues that children in Ulaanbaatar face are bronchitis, asthma and lung diseases. For instance, on 30 January, 2018 at 5am, the monitoring station at Baruun 4 zam stated that levels of PM2.5 pollutants were at 3,320 micrograms per cubic meter which is 133 times above WHO recommendations. From 2010 onwards, respiratory illnesses in Ulaanbaatar alarmingly elevated with a 2.6% increase in breathing infections per 10,000 people. Pneumonia is now the second main cause for under-five toddler demise within the country. Kids living in central Ulaanbaatar have been observed to have 40 per cent lower lung function than kids residing in a rural vicinity.

There are potential solutions to the pollution problem that both the government and the people can take to fix this ongoing crisis. Firstly, they can vaccinate children in Ulaanbaatar with 13-valent PCV and add the vaccine inside the country wide immunization agenda of Mongolia. They can also develop a brief informative document with measures human beings can take to reduce exposure to air pollution outdoors, which would include the proper use of high quality and well-equipped masks. They should also consider the supplies of masks free from price to the most vulnerable in communities that are are confronted with the highest levels of air pollution. They can reduce carbon emission by over 70% simply by switching to a coal that has been cleaned/washed. Burning raw coal is a main factor as to why air-pollution is so vivid in these areas. Burning clean coal for heating and electricity in ger areas is the only short-term solution for relief of the high levels of pollution. Constant monitoring of indoor air pollution in places such as schools and hospitals should also be increased, as well as information regarding the risks of indoor air pollution.

In conclusion, Mongolia has an ongoing air pollution crisis that needs direct attention immediately. Industrialization in cities like Ulaabaatar are only adding onto the amount of particulate matter in the air which can cause sometimes lethal diseases such as pneumonia, bronchitis and asthma. However, this health crisis does not only affect adults living in Ulaanbaatar, it also has fatal effects on children. Children are being born with lower birth weight, stillbirth is occuring, , pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma, cognitive impairment and death. The country's government needs to take action, and the people need to take initiative in order to stop this crisis for good. Some steps that could be taken are as follows; vaccinate children, inform the people on how to cut down on polluting the air, hand-out face masks, and switch to burning clean coal rather than dirty coal or no coal at all. With this all being said, simple changes can do a lot on the topic of pollution. Indeed the government must take action, but so should the people to make Mongolia the once harmless country it was before.