Toxic fog UT: Pregnant women and children urged to stay indoors as pollution goes 'off the charts'

[Stuart G]

38. Worst Smog event. ever...London December 1952...killed at least 4000, sickened 100,000

Great Smog...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Smog


The Great Smog of '52 or Big Smoke[1] was a severe air pollution event that affected London during December 1952. A period of cold weather, combined with an anticyclone and windless conditions, collected airborne pollutants mostly from the use of coal to form a thick layer of smog over the city. It lasted from Friday 5 to Tuesday 9 December 1952, and then dispersed quickly after a change of weather.

Although it caused major disruption due to the effect on visibility, and even penetrated indoor areas, it was not thought to be a significant event at the time, with London having experienced many smog events in the past, so called "pea soupers". However, government medical reports in the following weeks estimated that up until 20th December 4,000 people had died prematurely and 100,000 more were made ill because of the smog's effects on the human respiratory tract. More recent research suggests that the total number of fatalities was considerably greater at about 12,000.[2]
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You know..it would take an event like the one above to really get everyone thinking about "pollution" and the "enviornment"..Here is what happened in Illinois a few years after this event. So I am living in a two flat apartment with my family...Dad and my uncle upsairs announce they got to change the furnace..All furnances in Chicago had to change to "oil" or "gas" burners by a certain date..all..Now Illinois used to be the largest soft coal producer in America...I was never told why...but sometime in the 80s, I read about the above event...and that is why...yes, every apartment had to be converted..cause of the above event..60 years ago...maybe a movie about it..to wake people up...butI am afraid only another event...sad but true....