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# Linfen, China.
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/18848/
- Published: 2007-02-06T12:02:45.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-14T22:35:51.000Z
- Author: openDemocracy Supporters
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 18:23

**by Jessica Reed**

The Globe and Mail's Geoffrey York and photographer Natalie Behring v[isited the world's most polluted city](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/v5/content/features/chinaslideshow/index.html?ref=opendemocracy.net). Linfen, China is in the heart of the country's biggest coal-producing region. The pictures of commuters trying to escape [pollution](http://www.blacksmithinstitute.org/site10f.php?ref=opendemocracy.net) by wearing cotton masks are spine-chilling: as Tork says, they're merely an illusionary barrier against fumes, as the city's hospitals are packed with patients suffering from respiratory diseases. Coal [provides](http://cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/emis/tre%5Fprc.htm?ref=opendemocracy.net) 70% of China's energy; by 2009 China will be the biggest producer of carbon dioxide.

*Picture via* [*limlin*](http://flickr.com/photos/limlim/345485720/?ref=opendemocracy.net)*'s flickR account.*