MONGOLIA: Scientists warn that continued mass coal burning in Ulan Bator could be an environmental disaster for Mongolia

Scientists warn that increasing population in Mongolian capital Ulan Bator is posing a potential threat to the air quality and damaging the health of the residents. Half of the Mongolia's population lives in Ulan Bator and many houses, especially those in the poor Ger district have no central heating and rely on coal burning to survive the long, harsh winter, when temperatures can reach as low as minus thirty degrees during the night. But coal burning is not the only factor affecting the air quality. Some residents can not afford coal and simply burn whatever they can find, car tyres, old shoes, sacks and rubber materials, to supply their houses with heat and to cook food. Ulan Bator has four air quality monitoring stations. Constant monitoring since 1994 has revealed that the annual concentration of SO2 and NO2 have risen. "From last results of four air quality monitoring stations we see that out of 29 days, 26 days were polluted or the pollution level was higher than the acceptable level. Beside NO2 and SO2, there are many other elements in the air that affects human body and human health. For example carbon monoxide, benzoprine, dust, mercury lead, etc. It is known that these elements affect human respiratory organs, lungs, heart and even the brain," said Nyamdavaa Shagdar, an air quality engineer at the stations. The Ministry of Environment has begun to develop a policy framework to combat the deterioration. "We need to stop mass migration to Ulan Bator city immediately. We are suggesting declaring Ulan Bator as disaster zone for 2-3 years. When we have declared state of emergency we can stop mass migration. As a special zone we will attract more budget money and foreign donors to tackle pollution problems," said Mr Banzgragch Ch, Environment and Natural Resources Director at the Ministry of Environment. According to the Social Health Institution in 2006, 36 400 people suffered form some sort of respiratory disease and 2.7 billion Tugrugs (2.3 million U.S. Dollars) were spent to make them better. Over 80 percent of the children under 5 years here have been found to be suffering from various respiratory disorders. Considering that over thirty per cent of the population in Ulan Bator are aged between 0 and 5 this is now a serious problem and queues of patients in the hospitals are becoming longer and longer. "The incidence of respiratory infections of various forms among population is on the increase, especially in the Ger district. 78 per cent of all our patients that come for prevention or check ups come from that area," said Doctor Enkhchimeng Choijil of Chingeltei District hospital. The United Nations has swung the spotlight onto the issue of climate change on Friday (February 2) with the release of a major report on global warming. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), human activities are the main cause of global warming. 85 percent of China's energy production is coal-related and Mongolia's coal consumption is even higher. Experts frequently point the finger at China's environmental situation and neighbouring Mongolia is realising that its problem is swiftly attracting national recognition.

ITN Source | February 3, 2007

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