Great Smog of 1952

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Great Smog of 1952

The Great Smog, also referred to as the Big Smoke, befell London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
from 5 December to 9 December, 1952, and formed an important impetus to the modern environmental

Environmentalism

Environmentalism is a broad philosophy and social movement centered on a concern for the Conservation movement and improvement of the environment ....
movement. The catastrophe caused or advanced the death of thousands of Londoners. Deaths in most cases during the Great Smog were due to respiratory tract

Respiratory tract

In humans the respiratory tract is the part of the anatomy that has to do with the process of Respiration .The respiratory tract is divided into 3 segments:...
infection

Infection

An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. In an infection, the infecting organism seeks to utilize the host resources to multiply ....
s from hypoxia

Hypoxia (medical)

Hypoxia is a Pathology condition in which the body as a whole or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. Variations in arterial oxygen concentrations can be part of the normal physiology, for example, during strenuous physical exercise....
(a low level of oxygenation of blood), and due to mechanical obstruction of the air passages by pus

Pus

Pus is a whitish-yellow, yellow or yellow-brown substance produced during inflammatory pyogenic bacteriuml infection. An accumulation of pus in an enclosed tissue space is known as an abscess....
arising from lung infections caused by the smog.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Great Smog of 1952'

Start a new discussion about 'Great Smog of 1952'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

The Great Smog, also referred to as the Big Smoke, befell London

London

Environmentalism

Respiratory tract

In humans the respiratory tract is the part of the anatomy that has to do with the process of Respiration .The respiratory tract is divided into 3 segments:...
infection

Infection

An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. In an infection, the infecting organism seeks to utilize the host resources to multiply ....
s from hypoxia

Hypoxia (medical)

Pus

Bronchopneumonia

Bronchopneumonia is a type of pneumonia characterized by multiple foci of isolated, acute consolidation, affecting one or more pulmonary lobes....
or acute purulent

Pus

Bronchitis

Bronchitis is an inflammation of the large bronchus in the lungs. It can progress to pneumonia. Acute bronchitis is usually caused by viruses or bacteria and may last several days or weeks....
superimposed upon chronic bronchitis

Bronchitis

1952 in the United Kingdom

Events from the year 1952 in the United Kingdom....
, a cold fog

Fog

Fog is a cloud bank that is in contact with the ground. A cloud may be considered partly fog; for example, the part of a cloud that is suspended in the air above the ground is not considered fog, whereas the part of the cloud that comes in contact with higher ground is considered fog....
descended upon London. Because of the cold, Londoners began to burn more coal

Coal

Coal is a readily combustion black or brownish-black sedimentary rock. The harder forms, such as anthracite, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure....
than usual. The resulting air pollution

Air pollution

Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or damages the natural environment, into the Earth's atmosphere....
was trapped by the inversion layer

Inversion (meteorology)

In meteorology, an inversion is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude. It almost always refers to a temperature inversion, i.e., an increase in temperature with height, or to the layer within which such an increase occurs....
formed by the dense mass of cold air. Concentrations of pollutants, coal smoke in particular, built up dramatically. The problem was made worse by use of low-quality, high-sulphur coal for home heating in London in order to permit export of higher-quality coal, because of the country's tenuous postwar economic situation. The "fog", or smog

Smog

Smog is a kind of air pollution; the word "smog" is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Classic smog results from large amounts of coal burning in an area caused by a mixture of smoke and sulfur dioxide....
, was so thick that driving became difficult or impossible. It entered indoors easily, and concerts and screenings of films were canceled as the audience could not see the stage or screen.

Since London was known for its fog, there was no great panic at the time. In the weeks that followed, the medical services compiled statistics and found that the fog had killed 4,000 people, most of whom were very young or elderly, or had pre-existing respiratory problems. There was relief that Queen Mary

Mary of Teck

Mary of Teck was the queen consort of George V of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India. Before her husband's accession, she was successively Duchess of York, Duchess of Cornwall and Princess of Wales....
, The Queen Dowager, then aged 85 and suffering with respiratory problems, was not at Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal entertaining, and a major tourist attraction....
at the time of the incident. Another 8,000 died in the weeks and months that followed.

These revelations led to a rethinking of air pollution; the disaster had demonstrated its lethal potential to people around the world. New regulations were put in place restricting the use of dirty fuels in industry and banning black smoke. These included the Clean Air Acts of 1956

Clean Air Act 1956

The Clean Air Act 1956 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which responded to London's Great Smog of 1952. It was in effect from 1955-1964 and sponsored by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in England and the Department of Health for Scotland....
and of 1968, and the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a geographically small city status in the United Kingdom within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which, along with Westminster, the modern conurbation grew....
(Various Powers) Act of 1954.

External links

BBC News
BBC, 2002-12-02.
BBC News, 1952-12-09.