London's Great Smog What was it?

In this topic we will discuss about the great smog of London which was in 1952 & lasted for 5 days from 5th-9th December. This was an incident when air pollution for some days was so high that killed thousands of people and for the first time there is public crises and for the first time people get serious about the pollution control. So we will see about it in this topic what are the causes of it and how does it effect human lives and why is it relevant today for all of us so like always let's start:

How This Started ?:

This all didn't happened suddenly no London was polluted early. London was polluted since 13th century from air quality, which worsened in 1600s. Earlier due to less population the situation can be controlled but after the increase of the population things changed. In London the massive increase in the population in 18th,19th and 20th century is seen and in 1951 population of London has crossed 80 lacks. Main reason behind the worsening the air quality in 13th century was Coal burning. Public use of burning coal increase the problem as it was cheap and best form to produce heat. And so to keep the house warm they burn the the coal in winter a lot. And after industrial revolution in 18th & 19th Century coal plants came into existence which increases the use of coal burning to produce electricity and to produce the energy. So the air quality become even worse after this revolution. And from 16th to 20th century London is infamous for it's Fog. But the fog of 1952 is quiet bit different from others. The fog usually is off whitish color but this time the color is Yellow-Black and thicker than the residents of always fogy London had ever seen before so this was very strange. And the smell of this fog was different too, a smoky, chemical smell which was also very new to people. It was like chemical smell. Reason for this will be explained later in this topic.

What is SMOG ?: 

Fog can be considered a type of low -lying cloud and is heavily influenced by nearby bodies of water, topography, and wind conditions 

                                                                   FOG+SMOKE = SMOG 

Coinage of term "Smog" is often attributed to Dr. Henry Antoine Des Voeux in his 1905 paper, "Fog and Smoke" for a meeting of the public Health congress. And he was a french Doctor.

Reasons for the great smog of 1952 :

There are many reasons behind it some of them are : 

1. A period of cold weather it is one of the reasons as the temperature is 2-3 degrees less than usual so people are burning more coal to keep their houses warm. 
2. An anticyclone Depression like a larger climatic event due to which a depression is created over London and whole southern England.
3. Windless Conditions as the cold air is trapped in the atmosphere and the hot air is above it as hot air is lighter than the cold one this was also the one of the reasons for it. 
4. Airborne pollutants arising from the use of coal which get trapped with the air.
5. Pollution and smoke from the vehicle exhaust- particularly from steam Locomotives and Diesel- Fulled buses. 

These are the main factors for this smog.

The coal Factor :

This is also an important factor as the coal used at that time was of very low quality. And the high quality Anthracite England used to export to make money from it. Post war domestic coal tended to be of a relatively low-grade, sulphurous variety. There were also numerous coal-fired power stations in the greater London area which were used to create the electricity. 

Formation of Smog :

On 4th December 1952, an anticyclone settled over a windless London, causing a temp. inversion with cold, stagnant air trapped under a layer of warm air. The Resultant fog , mixed with smoke, particulates and other pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, formed a persistent smog. The absence of significant wind prevented its dispersal and allowed an unprecedented accumulation of pollutants. And hence smog created. 

Effects on the life of Londoners : 

There are many effects on the life during the smog people can't even see their own hands causing many accidents and deaths of the people.

1. It caused major disruption by reducing visibility and even penetrating indoor areas.
2. Problem in driving as the visibility is very less causing accidents.
3. Public transport all stopped as nothing can be seen. 
4. Essential services were also suspended 
5. Theaters stopped functioning as people can't even see the stage. 
6. Sports leagues cancelled due to this smog.

This also created a problem for the government to control the law and order situation as people start theft like things again. Many crimes started due to this fog at that time.

The Death toll :

Uk government would estimated that 4000 lives were due to the smog. The real number of fatalities is now believed to be closer to 10000. 1,00,000 more were made ill by the smog's effect on the human respiratory tract. Most of the deaths were caused by respiratory tract infections, from hypoxia and as a result of mechanical obstruction of the air passages by pus arising from lung infections caused by the smog. 

The Clean air act 1956 :

After this for the first time in the history the act related to air was introduced. Introduction of "Smoke control areas" in towns and cities in which only smokeless fuels could be burned. By shifting domestic sources of heat towards cleaner coals, electricity, and gas. The act also included measures to prevent the emission of dark smoke from chimneys. Required new furnaces to be smokeless and that grit and dust should be minimized. But till now problem of Air pollution lies in London not like in 1952 but smog still exists there. 

 

So due to this smog many lives affected many deaths were reported and it was the first time that increase the awareness about the pollution to a such level. After this incident many people get aware towards the pollution. This is also an example for now a days that if pollution was not controlled then what can happen. In present the pollution levels are also very high many environmental activist are active to raise more awareness about this and suggesting the whole world to change this kind pollution level in the perspective countries. So we need to control the pollution and need to plant more and more trees to keep our self and upcoming generation safe and give them healthy future. So this is all in this topic i hope you learn something new in this topic if you like it then share it .

Thank You