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The Great Smog

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    The Great Smog

    So London has "very high" air pollution, according to our mayor. The city reached a peak PM10 reading of 125 yesterday, which apparently is 2.5x the max EU level over 24 hours, while PM 2.5 is off the charts near 200 (if it were to carry on for a year, it would be 8x the maximum).

    But how bad is that, and what should we be doing about it, other than voting for traffic reduction measures and green vehicles/buildings and so on? I'm not really feeling it, but then I'm not a jogger/cyclist. How does it compare to Paris the other summer? Beijing?

    #2
    The Great Smog

    My previous role had an element focused on electromobility so I attended a few of the TfL launches of initiatives. To be fair to TfL, they are taking this issue for very seriously, this is their roadmap for improving air quality. Form that link, it states that 9,400 deaths are attributed to air quality illnesses in London each year. Not quite the Great Smog but significant nonetheless.

    From working in this space, improving air quality gets more traction with policy makers than the benefits to Climate Change.

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      #3
      The Great Smog

      The PM10 level in Stuttgart hit 188 yesterday, and the official pollution warning has been in place again since Jan 16th. It's a pretty regular occurrence there, as the city sits in a natural bowl and if there's no wind swirling about, the Feinstaub has nowhere to go.

      Currently, all that the local government can do is recommend that people use public transport and leave their cars at home. But Germans in general just love their cars, and Stuttgart is one of the homes of the German auto industry, so that recommendation has next to no effect.

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        #4
        The Great Smog

        It doesn't seem too bad to me in general, but then you hit a busy road in Hackney or near the City etc and it's awful. It's one reason why I chose to live somewhere with a lot of green space near Leytonstone, but of course not everyone has the option, and so this is a class and race issue as much as an environmental one.

        what should we be doing about it
        I dunno, but I would endorse trams, which run on electricity and thus cause pollution where the power station is rather than in a street thronged with people, strict regulations on driving near schools, preferably blocking the school roads themselves off, as kids' lungs are especially susceptible to pollution, and a serious effort on cycle lanes, using some of those massive London pavements on the big roads for bikes, which have multiple benefits. The latter policy is a joke at the moment.

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          #5
          The Great Smog

          I notice that this has only become a problem in London since you elected Sadiq Khan. Say what you like about Boris, but he was able to keep the streets of london pollution free....

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            #6
            The Great Smog

            Well, I supported the West London Tram when that was a possibility, but it never got built.

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