The air quality in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar is among the worst in the world. The city's air, which is at times far worse than Beijing's infamous smog, is thick with smoke from burning coal, wood and even rubbish, as residents try to stay warm during brutal winters.

Mongolia air pollution
Power plant chimneys stand behind a coal-burning neighbourhood covered in a thick haze on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar B Rentsendorj/Reuters
Mongolia air pollution
A man walks on the roof of a traditional 'ger' home while fixing the chimney of a coal-burning stove on a cold hazy day on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar B Rentsendorj/Reuters

The capital's total emissions of harmful breathable particles known as PM2.5 surged to a high of 855 micrograms per cubic metre late last month. In comparison, Beijing's air on the same day, measured 70 micrograms. The acceptable standard, according to the World Health Organisation, is 20-25 micrograms. The reading in Ulaanbaatar has been known to hit 1,000 micrograms.

On most winter mornings, Setevdorj Myagmartsogt wakes up to a cloud of toxic smog blanketing his neighbourhood. "Because of the air pollution, our health is getting worse," Myagmartsogt told Reuters. "When my two youngest kids go to kindergarten, they get ill every week and they have to stay away... It's because of the air pollution."

Mongolia air pollution
Setevdorj Myagmartsogt smokes a cigarette outside his tent-like ger home, which is heated by coal burning stove, in Ulaanbaatar B Rentsendorj/Reuters
Mongolia air pollution
Setevdorj Myagmartsogt's wife and children gather around their coal-burning stove in their tent-like 'ger' home in Ulaanbaatar B Rentsendorj/Reuters

About 80% of the city's smog comes from poor "ger" districts, a sprawl of traditional tents that have sprung up on the edge of the city, said Tsogtbaatar Byamba, director of Mongolia's Institute of Public Health. Many residents are former herders who migrated to the city after their livestock was wiped out by recent extremely harsh winters, which have become more common, partly because of climate change.

As temperatures plunge to as low as -40C, ger residents with no access to the state heating grid burn whatever they can to keep warm. To combat this, the government last month bolstered restrictions on migrants to the capital, allowing only those in need of long-term help and people who own homes until the end of the year.

Mongolia air pollution
A woman wears a face mask in the part of the city near neighbourhoods known for burning coal for heating in Ulaanbaatar B Rentsendorj/Reuters
Mongolia air pollution
People wait for the bus on a cold polluted day in Ulaanbaatar B Rentsendorj/Reuters
Mongolia air pollution
Cars drive through the thick haze on a cold polluted morning in Ulaanbaatar B Rentsendorj/Reuters
Mongolia air pollution
The sun glows dimly through an orange haze as people commute in an industrial area on a cold day in Ulaanbaatar B Rentsendorj/Reuters
Mongolia air pollution
Emissions from a power plant chimney rise over Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia B Rentsendorj/Reuters
Mongolia air pollution
A miner smokes a cigarette at a primitive coal mine outside Ulaanbaatar B Rentsendorj/Reuters
Mongolia air pollution
People work at a primitive coal mine outside Ulaanbaatar B Rentsendorj/Reuters
Mongolia air pollution
Workers enter the shaft of a primitive coal mine outside Ulaanbaatar B Rentsendorj/Reuters
Mongolia air pollution
Bags of coal and wood are offered for sale in central Ulaanbaatar B Rentsendorj/Reuters
Mongolia air pollution
A woman wearing a costume she takes part in an anti-pollution protest in front of a government building in central Ulaanbaatar B Rentsendorj/Reuters

Hundreds of residents gathered recently in the city's Chinggis Square to protest against the government's inability to tackle the smog. Demonstration organisers collected more than 7,000 signatures. "The air pollution has had real consequences in my life," protester Otgontuya Baldandorj told Reuters. "I was pregnant three times, but I lost all of them. With my fourth child, I had to go to the countryside to get fresh air to give birth."

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