London's smog incident

江西 孙朝岚

On December 5th,1952,the Great Smog of London descended on the British capital due to a combination of air pollution and weather conditions.To maximize revenues in the aftermath of the Second World War,the British government had opted to export the country's better-quality hard coal and retain the more sulfurous,low-grade coal for domestic consumption.

Smoke from burning this coal in domestic fires to offset the particularly cold winter of 1952,combined with pollutants from London's numerous power stations,factories,and public transport to create a thick,noxious blanket of smog over the city.The thick yellow-black smog was held over London for five days due to the arrival of high-pressure weather conditions.This caused an anticyclone that stopped the polluted air from rising into the atmosphere.

Windless conditions and London's position in a river valley also meant that the smog was unable to be blown away.Visibility in the city was reduced to just a few meters,bringing public transport to a halt and forcing schools and businesses to close.Meanwhile,people across the city breathed in the toxic air and began to succumb to respiratory infections.Estimates stated that between 4000 and 12,000 Londoners died as a direct result of breathing the polluted air.

In response,the government began to rethink its policy towards air pollution,and in 1956 introduced the Clean Air Act that established smoke control areas where only clean fuels could be burned,precipitating a shift towards the use of cleaner coals,electricity,and gas as sources of heat.

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What can we learn from the incident of London?