Smog casts light on Poland's unhealthy addiction to coal

The soupy gray smog shrouding Polish cities this winter is one of the most visible symptoms of the European Union member's addiction to coal, a deadly habit forcing many to stay indoors or don masks before venturing out.

Professor Anna Doboszynska, a specialist with more than two decades of experience treating lung disease, minces no words about the health risks it poses.

"During periods of smog, more people with respiratory and circulatory illnesses actually die," she said after examining an asthma patient wheezing heavily amid a spike in pollution in Warsaw.