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The Clean Air Act.

It is estimated that air pollution cuts everyone's life by six months in Britain, but in December 1952 the people of London suffered one of our countries worth peace time losses of life, it is estimated that over 12,000 people died from pollution (smog).

Pollution had become a killer and the government needed to take measures and it introduced the Clean Air Act, this act was not the first attempt to improve air quality but it was obvious previous attempts had failed.

The Clean Air Act gave powers to local authorities to create smokeless zones; with the households being offered grants to convert to smokeless fuel, despite the massive loss of life this measure was not popular because of the increased cost of the fuel.

The Act was revised in 1968 when its focus was on business and those burning coal were made to use taller chimneys.

In 1974 motor fuels were in the spotlight and the control of Air Pollutant Act was brought in to regulate the makeup of motor fuel.

Further regulation came into force in 1995 with the Environment Act with targets of air quality set for 2005, it seems this is now due for an update, and there is a lot of medical and media attention on the existing impact of Air Pollution especially in our cities.

Brief History of the smog of 1952.

The Fog of 1952 brought London to a near standstill for four days, from the evening of 5th of December the fog had taken hold and visibility was down to a meter with people unable to see the pavement they were walking along, and it got worse.
To trace the beginnings of this event you must go back to the industrial revolution where coal was the fuel that powered the factories, when some chemicals mixed with water and air the can turn into acid, as water in the air fixes to these minute particles they produce smog (polluted fog)

Over the years since 1800 there have been reports of thick fog which caused a marked increase in the death rate.

The weather plays a massive part in creating the conditions where smog will occur, in 1952 the months that preceded the great smog were very cold which in turn led to the increased use of fire to keep warm, not normally a problem but in this case an anticyclone sat over London preventing the escape of the smoke, this was compounded by industrial smoke for the continent brought by an easterly wind.

The effect was that the air close to the ground became cooler than the air above it, an effect called inversion, an effect that traps the cooler air.

In the case of the London Smog of 1952 it has the perfect storm of meteorological phenomena, causing a deadly mix of 1000's of tonnes of chemicals, including 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and almost a 1,000 tonnes of sulphuric acid.

Brief History of the smog of 1952.
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