The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

           Mongolia is a cold, cold place.  In the last three weeks, the temperature never rose above 0º Fahrenheit, and I would say that the average temperature was about -20ºF with a low of -40ºF.  And I left before it got bad.  January and February are already infamous cold months in which the temperature is no longer really taken into account except by the number of layers of long underwear you wear under your clothes.  These months sometimes come with a weather disaster called zuud which along with frigid temperatures brings too much snow that keeps millions of Mongolia’s animals from feeding on the grass.  During a zuud, these animals will starve and eventually be frozen in their tracks, and there is little a herder can do to save his or her herd.  It takes years to rebuild a herd after a zuud, and many herders who lose everything to the winter, will migrate to UB.

When the herders (and anyone else) come to UB, they will typically move into the ger district. Not everyone in the ger district lives in a ger—many live in houses—but what sets the ger district apart from the rest of UB is that it is not connected to central water, sewage, or heating.  Heating is the key service in Mongolia, and Mongolians living in the ger district will spend more on fuel to heat their homes than they will on food.  In UB, over 64% of people live in these ger districts, meaning that over half the population spends more on coal than meat.  Also, families which do live in gers must always have someone around the ger keeping the fire stoked; I met one lady who moved from a ger to a house because she and her husband weren't able to keep the ger warm for their son when they were away at work.  Undoubtedly, life is hard for people living in the ger districts in the winter, especially for the poor, who might not be able to afford fuel.

This emphasis on heating has serious implications for the rest of UB.  The fuel used to heat gers and houses is predominately coal and wood which are burned in inefficient stoves which warm insufficiently insulated homes requiring more fuel.  Fuel which, when burned, send copious amounts of black smoke into the air.  The change in air quality was noticeable the day the temperatures began to drop; as I walked to school, I noticed a pressure in my chest and that I was winded.  As the weather became colder, I could taste the pollution in the air, dusty and sweet.  Sitting in a taxi, I would watch the street lights and buildings disappear into a brown fog a half mile down the road.  And I left before it got bad.  In January and February, you can’t see the buildings across the street from you on a bad day, and just by breathing, you will have inhaled the equivalent of two packs of cigarettes.                                

There are rumors in milling around Mongolia that this winter will be particularly cold, and while I heard temperatures like -70º Celsius circulating the rumor mill, eventually cold is cold and the number doesn't matter.  But these low temperatures have the potential to create a zuud, and the entire country will suffer.  Herders will lose their most valuable assets, ger district residents will have to spend more money on heating fuel, and everyone living in UB will have to continue to breathe its poisonous air.