Ulaanbaatar is a very big city. Approximately three million people live in Mongolia, but almost half of the country's population lives in Ulaanbaatar. Not everyone in the city has enough money to live in a nice, warm house. Many homes in certain districts of Ulaanbaatar are just cheap, wooden houses that do not have insulation or properly sealed windows. As a result, many people need coal to stay warm. And all of the coal being burned in the winter time creates really terrible pollution.
Since arriving in Mongolia, I have learned about the Yurt District's need to find sustainable ways to stay warm in the winter so that the amount of pollution in the city can be reduced. Do you know what "sustainable" means? Sustainable solutions are solutions that last a long time. Sometimes people try to fix problems but actually create different problems. Creating sustainable solutions is like smart problem-solving.
Ulaanbaatar is one of the coldest capitals in the world. Temperatures in the winter get as low as -30 degrees Fahrenheit. That sort of cold is bone chilling! Most of the people who live in the city do not live in houses or apartments. A lot of Mongolians live in yurts, which look a little bit like round tents. People who live in the Yurt Districts need to burn tons of coal each winter to stay warm.
