Since spring arrived in Mongolia, the skies have cleared and the smoke has decreased. However, the demonstrations against air pollution will continue even during the summer. The third air pollution protest will be organised on Sukhbaatar Square, on 18^th of March, coinciding with Armed-Services Day. This demonstration will be a crowd funding campaign calling on the government to do more to protect citizens and build hospitals. Since December, these protests have been organised by ‘Parents against Air-Pollution’.

Levels of particulate matter in the air have risen to almost 80 times above the recommended safety level set by the World Health Organization – and were five times worse than Beijing during the month of December when the worst smog of the year was recorded. Public anger over the government’s handling of pollution has been growing on social media, where residents share pictures of the smog and encourage methods of protection. One of the latest trends is that Mongolians have been changing their profile pictures on Facebook to show themselves wearing air pollution masks.

For centuries, Mongolia's nomads have dwelt in tent-like structures made of felt known as gers (yurts). But the promise of a better education and jobs has lured hundreds of thousands to the big city. Ulaanbaatar has 1.3 million residents — almost half the country's population — and gers have proliferated as a cheap and familiar form of housing. With no access to the city's central heating grid, the ger dwellers must burn coal to stay warm. The smoke created by the ger-districts, most of which are located on the city's northern slopes, combines with the winter air to form smog which covers the city in a thick blanket.