The Great Smog of 1952

Folks didn't always worry about air quality.

Take one winter London day in 1952, as an example. Londoners fought off the cold and damp by burning cheap coal, as they often did. To their dismay, a fog trapped the coal smoke in London, creating a dense smog full of levels of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and soot that the world had never seen before.

The stench of rotten eggs engulfed the city, and the blackness prevented commuters from driving. The smog stayed for four miserable days -- blackening faces, halting school attendance, coating building facades, and creeping indoors. As it gradually dissipated, a sigh of relief could be heard all over town.

But the effects of that great smog were devastating. The toxic air reportedly killed countless cattle and claimed as many as 12,000 human lives within weeks, which led to the creation of the Clean Air Act of 1956 -- England's first milestone in the regulation of air pollution.

One unexpected catastrophe woke up the world's population and ignited a growing concern about our impact on the environment.

• NPR: The Killer Fog of '52 - experience the tragic smog through personal accounts and shocking facts.
• BBC News: The Great Smog of London - what have Londoners learned from the epic environmental episode?
• AIRNow: Smog - Who Does It Hurt? - what is ozone and how does it effect air quality?

Directory categories: Air Pollution, Pollution, Environment, Environmental History, Environmental Movements

Originally posted on The Spark, a daily blog where Yahoo! Directory editors highlight new and interesting content on the Web.