By U.BATCHIMEG

A foggy and gloomy atmosphere welcomed citizens of Ulaanbaatar on the morning of January 30. Many couldn’t tell whether the fog was air pollution or mist. Meterolgoists are now saying that radiative cooling was the main cause. The temperature reached its lowest point the previous night and experts claim this is the main reason for radiative cooling to occur. Engineer at Precaution Sector at National Agency of Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring of Mongolia D.Enkhtuya provided more information on the phenomenon:

-Is it true that the temperature in Ulaanbaatar dropped below – 40 C? Please give us more details on the blurry and gloomy atmosphere on the morning of January 30.
-The temperature in Ulaanbaatar fell drastically on January 27. The temperature was -37 C in the center of Ulaanbaatar and on the outskirts of the city it reached -44 C. Geographically, Ulaanbaatar is in a location that gets little wind, which means fog and mist stays low to the ground. Air pollution also plays a huge role in the mist we all saw.
-It is said that weather temperature will not change nowadays. There might be mist again.
-Starting February 4 the temperature will begin to increase.
Due to these drastic changes in weather conditions, air pollution has also increased. According to World Air Quality Index, if the percent of air pollution is 250 to 300, air pollution is considered very bad. If it is 350 to 500 percent, it is considered as a condition of risk. The percentage of air pollution has reached as high as1000 percent in the ger districts of Ulaanbaatar. There are over 177 thousand registered gers in Ulaanbaatar alone. Experts suggest that citizens wear masks outside.
Citizens are complaining that air pollution is increasing day by day yet numerous actions said to the taken towards decreasing air pollution have not been implemented.b