美国国家公共电台 NPR Mongolia's Capital Banned Coal To Fix Its Pollution Problem. Will It Work?

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We have a story of climate migration¹. It's a story from Mongolia, where many people once lived in grasslands², the steppe. Harsh winters have pushed whole communities off the steppe and into cities. In the past 30 years, the capital city of Ulaanbaatar has nearly tripled in size. Now the migrants face another environmental hazard - the pollution of a growing city. NPR's Emily Kwong reports.

EMILY KWONG, BYLINE³: Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital city on Earth.

(SOUNDBITE OF WHISTLE BLOWING, CARS DRIVING)

KWONG: And when temperatures drop in winter, the streets fill with smog. People walk with their heads down, noses buried in jackets and facemasks. The pollution stings their eyes and perfumes their clothes with an acrid⁴, rotten egg smell. And to understand where it's coming from, you have to hop⁵ on a bus and travel north to the city's outskirts⁶ to a place called the ger district.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOG BARKING)

KWONG: It's minus 20 degrees outside. My interpreter Ganbat Namjilsangarav and I are surrounded by chimneys spewing smoke.

We're at the top of a small hill. And the - when you get out here, the smog is thick.

The hills surrounding Ulaanbaatar were once green. Now they're awash in tin-roofed houses and circular gers. Gers are portable homes used by herders to move from place to place. And in the past 20 years, over 600,000 Mongolians have migrated to this city seeking jobs, education and a better life.

Forty-six-year-old Chantsal Vaanjir came to Ulaanbaatar in 2001.

CHANTSAL VAANJIR: (Through interpreter) It's difficult to live here because of air pollution. But life is more difficult in the countryside because there are no paid jobs.

KWONG: Chanstal - Mongolians tend to go by their first names - is preparing mutton dumplings for lunch while her children watch TV. Crouching⁷ over the ger stove, she lights a match...

(SOUNDBITE OF MATCH STRIKING)

KWONG: ...And builds a fire using raw coal. The ger district has no centralized heating system. Raw coal is what's available and affordable⁸, burned by approximately 200,000 households just like hers for heating and cooking. But this dependence⁹ on coal is also what's smothering¹⁰ the city in smoke. Chantsal insists her children wear protective facemasks when they go outside.

VAANJIR: (Through interpreter) Smoke is still seeping¹¹ through their breathing masks. The inside of their masks are black and full of soot¹².

KWONG: And it's damaging her children's lungs. Air pollution contains toxic¹³ particulates¹⁴, some small enough to slide deep into the lung tissue.

This December, Chantsal’s 6-year-old son, Altanshagai Dorjsuren, was diagnosed with a lethal¹⁵ case of pneumonia¹⁶, and doctors blamed it on the air pollution.

What do you remember about that?

ALTANSHAGAI DORJSUREN: (Speaking Mongolian).

KWONG: Here, it got painful, he says pointing to his chest. He's the opposite of shy, eager to listen to the family cat through my headphones.

(SOUNDBITE OF CAT PURRING)

KWONG: When he was sick, his lungs sounded just like that cat, Chantsal tells me. The air sacs in both lungs were filled with fluid. Altanshagai has recovered with medicine and bed rest, but many children do not. Pneumonia is now the country's second leading cause of death for children under the age of five.

Walk through any hospital, and you'll see why UNICEF has declared air pollution a child health crisis. At the Bayanzurkh Medical Center, patients pack the hallways.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHILD COUGHING)

KWONG: Simple flus are becoming serious respiratory illnesses. Bronchitis and asthma¹⁷ are pulling kids out of school and their parents out of work to care for them. Dr. Enkzul Jargal is the center's director. The 50-year-old is a pediatrician by training and considers pollution a violation¹⁸ of the rights of a child.

ENKZUL JARGAL: Disease is not for the children, actually, because they're not doing any bad things, just growing.

KWONG: Mongolia's government has pledged big money to clean up the air, the equivalent of $55 million since 2008. But little has changed. Looking over her purple glasses, Dr. Enkzul says hospitals are basically hamstrung, discharging patients into the very environment that made them sick in the first place.

JARGAL: I hate it. It's so stupid.

KWONG: And then last winter, big news broke of an impending¹⁹ ban on raw coal.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The government took the decision to ban consumption of raw coal in Ulaanbaatar starting from May 15, 2019.

KWONG: This new law just went into effect. First-time offenders²⁰ will be fined the equivalent of $115.

ULZIIBAYAR GONCHIG: People are tired of this pollution now.

KWONG: Thirty-five-year old Ulziibayar Gonchig is the head of strategic planning in the governor's office. Wealthier Mongolians like himself can afford an at-home air filter or a ticket out of town. There's a class difference when it comes to the quality of air you breathe in this city. Ulziibayar acknowledges this, noting how the households contributing to air pollution the most are those least able to escape it. And he rejects the idea that those in the ger district must choose between breath and warmth.

GONCHIG: They have to live. They have to burn something. They have to make heat in order to cook, to feed themselves.

KWONG: So, he says, we'll compensate²¹ them. In light of the ban, the government is putting a new product on the market made from semi-coke coal. While more expensive, these fuel-efficient briquettes are set to burn longer and cleaner. Skeptics abound²².

How do we know that this is really going to happen? And obviously, it's a ban, so the people have to buy a different source of fuel. I recognize that. But what would you say to those who are, like, skeptical²³?

GONCHIG: Just bear with us. Next year will be much easier. People will understand where to get these coals, how to use them and what kind of stove they're going to use. So it's for all of our benefit.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHILDREN PLAYING)

KWONG: Mongolians have heard promises from the government like this before. But everybody needs to chip in, Ulziibayar says, to make changes on the ground if there's any hope of seeing changes in the air. Emily Kwong, NPR News, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

(SOUNDBITE OF MONGOLIAN MORIN KHUUR'S "WHITE PONY²⁴ AND SUHO")

INSKEEP: Emily is NPR's Above the Fray²⁵ fellow. The Above the Fray Fellowship supports reporting from under-covered parts of the world. And the final part of our series from Mongolia is tomorrow. We'll take a trip down a coal road to China.

1 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

2 grasslands   

n.草原，牧场( grassland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Songs were heard ringing loud and clear over the grasslands. 草原上扬起清亮激越的歌声。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Grasslands have been broken and planted to wheat. 草原已经开垦出来，种上了小麦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 acrid   

adj.辛辣的，尖刻的，刻薄的

参考例句：

• There is an acrid tone to your remarks.你说这些话的口气带有讥刺意味。
• The room was filled with acrid smoke.房里充满刺鼻的烟。

5 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

6 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

7 crouching   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影
• A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

8 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

9 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

10 smothering   

（使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的现在分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制

参考例句：

• He laughed triumphantly, and silenced her by manly smothering. 他胜利地微笑着，以男人咄咄逼人的气势使她哑口无言。
• He wrapped the coat around her head, smothering the flames. 他用上衣包住她的头，熄灭了火。

11 seeping   

v.（液体）渗( seep的现在分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• Water had been slowly seeping away from the pond. 池塘里的水一直在慢慢渗漏。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Chueh-hui could feel the cold seeping into his bones. 觉慧开始觉得寒气透过衣服浸到身上来了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

12 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。

13 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

14 particulates   

n.微粒，粒子( particulate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Techniques for controlling particulates include filtering, washing, centrifugal separation, and electrostatic precipitation. 控制颗粒污染物的技术包括过滤、洗涤、离心分离、静电沉降。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Only micronic particulates penetrate to the depth of the lung. 只有微细粒子穿透到肺深部。 来自辞典例句

15 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

16 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

17 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

18 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

19 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

20 offenders   

n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物）

参考例句：

• Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
• Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。

21 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

22 abound   

vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于

参考例句：

• Oranges abound here all the year round.这里一年到头都有很多橙子。
• But problems abound in the management of State-owned companies.但是在国有企业的管理中仍然存在不少问题。

23 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

24 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

25 fray   

v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗

参考例句：

• Why should you get involved in their fray?你为什么要介入他们的争吵呢？
• Tempers began to fray in the hot weather.大热天脾气烦燥。