The Great Smog

      ‘The smog of London’ or ‘The Great Smog’ is the biggest air pollution incident that happened in London on Friday 5^thuntil Tuesday 9^th December 1952. It was caused by the cold weather and the anticyclone meteorology phenomenon, and beside of that the air pollution is also caused by an exaggerated use of coal. 

   This incident wasn’t considered as a dangerous event on that time, but it turned out that this phenomenon had a great impact on environmental research, government regulation, and public health. This incident cause 4000 deaths and more than 100.000 respiratory disorder on many people. But later it was discovered that there are 12.000 deaths caused by the great smog. Most of the victims 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.Most of the victims were very young or elderly, or had pre-existing respiratory problems.

   This incident made a change on Government Regulations about clean air, including the legalization of the Government Regulation about clean air on 1996.

   This killer fog is not a well-remembered event,but it change the way we looks at polution. 

   As said by many witnesses, the first attack of the smog was horrible. It was like somebody had set a lot of tires on fire. Since the 13th century, London has anguished from poor air quality. But, The Great Smog was the worst air pollution in the history of the United Kingdom. This incident, made the most significant effect on government, environment, and public awareness of relationship between air quality and health.

  Because of The Great Smog, driving felt so difficult and impossible because our visibility reduced to a few meter that made you felt like you were blind. Many of public transportation in London had discontinue, ambulance service stopped, forcing users to transport themselves to the hospital. Outdoor sport events had also cancelled too.

  Environmental legislation since 1952, such as the City of London (Various Powers) Act 1954 and the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968, led to a reduction in air pollution. Government were offered householders to replace coal fires with some alternatives which could produces minimal smoke. Many efforts have been made to improve London air quality. Despite improvements, insufficient progress had been made to prevent one further smog event approximately ten years later.