The legislation included powers to establish smokeless zones, and provided subsidies to householders to convert to cleaner fuels (smokeless solid fuel, gas and electricity).īut this energy transition did not happen overnight. Historians widely considered the Clean Air Act a milestone in environmental protection. This for the first time regulated both domestic and industrial smoke emissions. It was the catalyst for comprehensive air pollution controls in Britain.įollowing this tragedy the government passed the Clean Air Act of 1956. The 1952 London smog disaster is thought to have claimed as many as 12,000 lives. There were no votes to be had in clearing the skies. Governments were unwilling to upset the electorate by passing legislation that interfered with freedom to enjoy this popular British institution. The public’s affection for the traditional blazing hearth was a major obstacle to smoke control. One reason laws were so lax was that smoke pollution was not viewed in a wholly negative light. There were no votes to be had in clearing the skies Smoke pollution was not viewed in a wholly negative light. They could have reduced smoke significantly by burning fossil fuels in closed stoves. Failure to regulate emissions from fireplaces in homes, major polluters of city air, was perhaps the biggest flaw. Legislation imposed low fines on offenders, effectively providing Britain’s industrialists with a licence to pollute.Įxemptions. This did not encourage use of the latest technology - but simply the apparatus industrialists were prepared pay for. Flaws included:Īn ambiguous “best practicable means” clause for smoke abatement. There were flaws in early smoke control laws like the local acts of the 1840s, the Public Health Act of 1875, and the Public Health (Smoke Abatement) Act of 1926. Lack of sunlight meant that rickets – a disease that affects healthy bone development in children – was endemic in industrial towns.Ĭoal smoke was linked to very high death rates from respiratory diseases such as bronchitis, killing between 800,000 and 1.4 million people in the period 1840-1900. It blocked out the sun, blackening buildings, increasing the severity of fog, and damaging people’s health. A smoke haze enveloped cities like Glasgow, Leeds, London and Manchester. UK coal consumption increased from around 10 million tons a year in 1800 to almost 200 million tons in 1950. With the Industrial Revolution Britain became the workshop of the world. The result was the landmark 1956 Clean Air Act. It is linked to terrible health effects, including lung cancer and impaired lung development in children.īritain put in some controls against air pollution after London's killer smog of 1952. In the UK air pollution causes the equivalent of up to 36,000 early deaths every year. Globally, indoor and outdoor air pollution caused around 7 million premature deaths in 2012, according to the World Health Organisation. In developed and developing countries, air pollution – caused by cars, factories and coal fires – is shortening lives.
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