On the weekend I caught the train to Adana for fun with the AIESEC‘ers and trainees. I met a few great new people and enjoyed mixing with other foreigners again.

In winter, Adana, like Mersin, suffers badly from pollution. Many people in the heavily populated cities burn wood to warm their homes. The combination of poor quality timber, thousands of fires and unfavourable atmospheric conditions lead to visible and pungent pollution. This pollution is particularly intense at night when most fires are burning.

Clothes hung out to dry end up smelling of smoke by the time they are ready to pick in. The haze visible on the Mersin horizon reminds me of Istanbul’s year-round pollution.

I wonder how the region’s wildlife remnants handle the pollution? Does the pollution affect the fish stocks? Will the burning and pollution be regulated and reduced in the future? Too many big questions to answer…