The Great Smog Of London And Its Aftermaths
Introduction
The Great Smog of London doomed the citizens’ life causing deaths of 12000 people due to the greediness of the British Government. While some argued that this was because of the flu epidemic, scientists demonstrated which was due to the abundant utilization of low grade and high-sulfur. Studies illustrate that there was a likelihood of childhood diseases such as asthma during the first couple of years of new born babies to those exposed to the air. This is known as the worst history of air pollution in the past of London.
The Great Smog of London
Right after the end of World War II, the British Government had decided to export the better-quality coals and retain the low quality for domestic purpose in order to gain maximum profit. In December 5, 2015 the cold weather kept people of the city from moving on and they started burning abundant amount of cheap coals to heat up the homes. These coals resulted irritating lungs and created poisons such and Sulfur Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide. On the other hand, the government introduced new Diesel-powered buses and pollutants came out of the factories formed a thick yellow black smog shadowed over London for 4 days due to the arrival of high-pressure system. This caused an anti-cyclone that stopped the air from rising in the atmosphere. This smog created lung-disease like Bronchitis. All the flights were grounded, public transportation was cancelled, trains collided and movie theatres were stopped. This disaster caused 4000 to 12,000 deaths and the health effects were long-lasting.
Reasons of How This Shaped Environmentalism
- Over utilization of low graded, high-sulfur contented coal in residences
- Innovation of Diesel-powered public vehicles
- Unrestricted emission of toxic spews from companies in the city
- Lack of Environmental and Governmental agencies to restrict the pollution and set a standard.
Driving Force For the Change
In 1956 the parliament of Britain finally implemented the Clean Air act by restricting the black smoke and the use of unclean fuels in factories for creating the “Smoke free-zone”. The city of London offered various financial subsidies to the public in order to replace open coal fires with other alternatives such as gas fires. The UK Environmental Agency was also charged by establishing certain standards by aiming to protect people’s health and environment, restricting amount of pollution allowed by various factories in various regions, controlling automobile emission.
Conclusion
The Great smog of London shows us the lack of protection from pollution could have worse effect on both society as well as nature in the long run. Being a Sustainable professional, each one of us has the responsibility to protect our people and environment by the implication of our knowledge and experience in the field.
References
- Barbara J. Polivka. (2018). The Great London Smog of 1952. AJN, American Journal of Nursing, 118(4) 67-61.
- Corton, C. L. (2015). London Fog: The Biography. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Retrieved September 18, 2019from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1133811&site=eds-live&scope=site
- TARSHIS, L. (2016). The Killer SMOG. Storyworks, 23(6), 4. Retrieved September 18, 2019 from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=prh&AN=113791402&site=eds-live&scope=site
