Siegfried Modola, Shortlisted Photographer for the Climate Visuals Photography Award
WHAT IT SHOWS: A man walks past apartment city blocks during a heavily polluted morning in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, January 19, 2019. During the harsh Mongolian winter Ulaanbaatar ranks first as the world's most polluted capital, overtaking cities like New Delhi and Beijing. More than half of the city's 1.4 million live in the impoverished ger districts and over 200,000 households within these districts burn coal in the winter months to keep warm, exasperating the pollution problem. An ever-increasing number of children are suffering from respiratory related illnesses, stretching health infrastructures to the limit. UNICEF Mongolia has warned of a looming “child health crisis” linked directly to the high pollution levels in the winter months.