quote- 'One of the best ways to reduce your exposure to air pollution,' says Dr Roy Colvile, a senior lecturer in air-quality management at Imperial College London, 'is to avoid walking along busy streets and thoroughfares, instead choosing side streets and parks. Carefully choosing your route has a "dramatic" effect'
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Another way would be to stop breathing !
I guess this guy wasn't around fifty years ago, it's pityful how such a person gets his academic notions plastered all over the media , anything connecting the environment and pollution apparently is newsworthy today ! ( Yes we know it's important, but surely we're being overwhelmed by it ).
Smog- not long ago, probably around 1952 smog was a big problem in towns of England ,coal was the fuel used by most domestic housholds , and the solution was deemed to be reducing the amount of coal being burned .
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Great Smog of 1952
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Great Smog, also referred to as the Big Smoke, befell London starting on 5 December 1952, and lasted until 9 December 1952. This catastrophe caused or advanced the death of thousands and formed an important impetus to the modern environmental movement.
Early in December 1952, a cold fog descended upon London. Because of the cold, Londoners began to burn more coal than usual. The resulting air pollution was trapped by the inversion layer formed by the dense mass of cold air. Concentrations of pollutants, coal smoke in particular, built up dramatically. The problem was made worse by use of low-quality high-sulfur coal for home heating in London in order to permit export of higher-quality coal, because of the country's tenuous economic situation [1]. The "fog," or smog, was so thick that driving became difficult or impossible. It entered indoors easily, and concerts and screenings of films were cancelled as the audience could not see the stage or screen.
Since London was known for its fog, there was no great panic at the time. In the weeks that followed, the medical services compiled statistics and found that the fog had killed 4,000 people—most of whom were very young or elderly, or had pre-existing respiratory problems. There was relief that Queen Mary The Queen Dowager, then age 85 and suffering with respiratory problems, was not at Buckingham Palace at the time of the incident. Another 8,000 died in the weeks and months that followed.
These shocking revelations led to a rethinking of air pollution; the disaster had demonstrated its lethal potential to people around the world. New regulations were put in place restricting the use of dirty fuels in industry and banning black smoke. These included the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and of 1968, and the City of London (Various Powers) Act of 1954.
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I well recall in the mid fifties ,after nightschool ,walking ( yes,people actually walked in those days), from Preston Tech in Corporation St. down Marsh Lane to work the nightshift at English Electric on Strand Rd , the smog was often so thick that one could see perhaps only ten feet .(I doubt Dr. Colville was around in those days !) ,however, in an effort to tabulate the contaminants and generate public awareness of the problem a pen/ink recording device was installed in a shop window exhibit promoted by advocates of smokeless fuel, on Lancaster road (near the bus access alleyway ) it analised and plotted various atmospheric bourne pollutants against time on a chart, visible for all to see.
The government then encouraged the demise of domestic coal burning ,smokeless fuel was introduced which actually had a higher calorific valve than the coal it replaced.
Since the advent of the industrial revolution manufacturing towns in the midlands and the north have seen pollution, I suggest that the air surrounding the towns and cities of the uk is now considerably less polluted than they have been of late .
Today, the air is superb compared to those days, however,I must say that first thing one notices when visiting Preston or for that matter any uk town , is the smell of diesel exhaust fumes. It seems to me ,that uk residents don't notice this, as do visitors! We are told that diesel is less of a pollutant than gasoline!
I find that very difficult to believe !
