The Great London Smog of 1952; its consequences and contemporary relevance

Farran, S

doi:10.63674/yqyj7969

The Great London Smog of 1952; its consequences and contemporary relevance

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Sue Farran ORCiD

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Abstract

For five days in 1952 London was crippled by one of the worst ‘smogs’ ever experienced. The combination of damp air and pollutants led to thousands of deaths over an extended period of time. This chapter locates the 1952 event within the largely ineffective measures that had been taken in the preceding years to deal with the industrial and domestic pollution caused by smoke and particulate matter in the atmosphere at a time when most households were burning coal and manufacturers were reliant on furnaces to produce goods. The Great London Smog provoked further legal reaction culminating in the Clean Air Act 1956. While hailed as a significant step at the time, a closer examination of the Act suggests that compromises were made, balancing concerns about health, damage to buildings and the wasteful use of coal, against the costs that would be incurred by industrialists and the burdens imposed on local authorities. In the years that followed there were further legal adjustments but the problem of air pollution persisted. Seventy years later the world is more aware of the danger of pollutants and the threats these pose not only to human health but to the planet. It was not until 2021, however that a coroner was prepared to rule that a child’s death in London, had been caused by air pollution. There were hopes that this might provoke radical action to tackle air pollution. The Environment Act 2021 seemed an ideal opportunity to do this. The chapter concludes by considering whether it has lived up to its expectations or whether the problem of air pollution that was so damaging in 1952, remains with us.