The Reality of Air Pollution in the UK (by Isabelle Beckett-Smith)
In recent years, air pollution has begun to take centre stage in the world's media. The shocking images of China's polluted air leading up to the 2008 Olympics and the smog that descends on India's cities have made international headlines1. Yet, the west seems to think that it is a problem confined to developing countries, much like our own experiences in the 19th and early 20th centuries caused by coal burning on industrial scales. During Prime Minister's Questions on the 16th March2, David Cameron seemed to illustrate this attitude towards air pollution by pointing out how the Conservative government of the day introduced the Clean Air Act 1956. The legislation was passed in response to the Great London Smog in December 1952 which led to London being covered in a thick fog for 5 days leading to at least 4000 extra deaths3. David Cameron, in the context of the PMQ debates, seemed to want to highlight an old Conservative achievement but history tells a different story.
Six weeks after the smog, the House of Commons, when questioning the Conservative Minister of Health, discovered that the Ministry of Health was not represented on the Atmospheric Pollution Research Committee investigating the smog, despite assurances from the government a month earlier that all relevant departments were involved. Furthermore, on February 12th 1953, the government when asked what action the committee would be taking in response to the smog, replied that no action would be taken; the committee was an advisory body concerned only with data collection4. It took seven months for the government to create a brand new investigation (through being pushed by the opposition and media coverage), which published the Report of the Beaver Committee on Air Pollution in November 1954. Lastly, the Clear Air Bill was a private members Bill introduced and pushed forward by the conservative backbencher Gerald Nabarro (1913-73); not a government Bill. The act mainly focused on prohibiting the emission of dark smoke, cleaner forms of domestic heating (which was inefficient and unclean coal heating), allowing councils to measure air pollution data with the aim of limiting it and giving local authorities the power to create "Smokeless Zones"5. It was successful in reducing smoke emissions, especially in the industrial sectors6 and the general move away from inefficient and dangerous coal sources has created a country in which smog is no longer the main factor in air pollution.
However, it is wrong to believe that air pollution is no longer a major issue. Air pollution comprises of particles and gases; particle pollution is (now) quite highly regulated in the western world, unlike in China, India and Eastern Europe, all who experience high levels of particle pollution7. Pollution caused by the emission of gases such as Nitrogen Oxides, Carbon Dioxide and Sulphur Dioxide is causing a health crisis amongst the British population. Air pollution causes many health problems, such as asthma. A recent study published by the Royal College of Physicians found that around 40,000 deaths a year are attributed to air pollution8. It found that from 1990s to 2000s, nitrogen dioxide is the biggest killer. The rise in nitrogen dioxide and particulates are directly linked to the rise in diesel use and diesel cars.9 Around a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions come from the transport sector in the UK10 and the department for transport in 2012 found that just over 50% of all new cars were diesel11. The government is keen to show how there has been a long term decrease in air pollutants in a national statistical report released by DEFRA. It measured emissions from 1970 to 2014 elucidating that, for example, emissions of nitrogen oxide decreased in 2014 compared to 2013 by 8.4%, the lowest level in the time series12. However, it omitted to mention that nitrogen dioxide as a percentage of nitrogen oxides has actually increased over that time13. Studies have demonstrated that in 1997 Nitrogen dioxide made up 5% of the percentage but increased up to 40% by 200214 and the organisation Clean Air in London placing it at 75%15 for 2015.
The public and politicians need to be educated on the reality and consequence of air pollution in modern Britain. The deadly smog's have gone but air pollution now is a long-term silent killer. We cannot afford to be complacent any longer. Lifestyles choices, such as riding bikes, walking and reducing meat consumption will help reduce emissions. Yet, despite the shocking revelations of the Volkswagen emission scandal16, the British government has been pushing to weaken air pollution limits in car manufactures and wanted to delay their introduction until 202117. This prompted ClientEarth to lodged legal challenges in the courts against the government's air quality plans. They were victorious in the Supreme court in April 2015 which ordered the government to produce new air quality plans to bring down air pollution in the shortest possible time. However, the organisation announced in March 2016 that the new plans aren't good enough and have lodged another legal challenge to force the government to change the plans again18. Just like 64 years ago, the government and business are not acting fast or robustly enough in tackling air pollution. It was the public, the media and individuals who passed the Clean Air Act in 1956, and now we need to do it again. The public need to demonstrate to the government that allowing the continuous poisoning of the atmosphere and of our lungs is not acceptable. We have the right, as citizens and as residents of the planet, to breathe clean air. It's time to campaign for a new ground breaking piece of legislation that will tackle deadly diesel emissions and greatly decrease air pollution across the country by building a more sustainable, climate-friendly economy and way of life.
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/09/world/asia/beijing-smog-pollution.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/10/world/asia/india-climate-change-global-warming.html
[2] http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmhansrd/cm160316/debtext/160316-0001.htm#16031632000009 the PMQ debate on Hansard.
[3] The UK Clean Air Act 1956: An empirical investigation by Vanessa Giussani, The Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment University College London and University of East Anglia, p.1. http://cserge.ac.uk/sites/default/files/gec_1994_20.pdf
[4] Thorsheim, P. (2006) Inventing Pollution: Coal, Smoke and Culture in Britain since 1800. London: Ohio University Press. pp. 162-183.
[5] http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1955/jan/25/air-pollution-committees-report Air pollution committee report, Hansard.
[6] The UK Clean Air Act 1956: An empirical investigation by Vanessa Giussani, The Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment University College London and University of East Anglia, p.49. http://cserge.ac.uk/sites/default/files/gec_1994_20.pdf
[7] http://cleanair.london/solutions/one-atmosphere/
[8] The Royal College of Physicians. 'Every Breath we take: the lifelong impact of air pollution.' Found at https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/outputs/every-breath-we-take-lifelong-impact-air-pollution
[9] The Royal College of Physicians. 'Every Breath we take: the lifelong impact of air pollution.' P7.
[10] Government policy and information on transport emissions. Found at https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/transport-emissions
[11] Vehicle Licensing statistics by the department of transport for 2012. Found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/198753/vls-2012.pdf
[12] Statistcal release 17th December 2015 by DEFRA on Emissions of Air Pollutants in the UK, 1970 to 2014. Found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/486085/Emissions_of_air_pollutants_statistical_release_2015_-_Final__2_.pdf
[13] http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/reports/aqeg/nd-summary.pdf
[14] Risks of exceeding the hourly EU limit value for nitrogen dioxide resulting from increased road transport emissions of primary nitrogen dioxide, report from the atmospheric environment journal. Found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231006011058
[15] Situation now at 4.37. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2r-VTUY_4o&list=PLjsJRKHxMTfLDeRFsgmxOQeMdZARGdEdg&index=5
[16] http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/sep/22/vw-scandal-caused-nearly-1m-tonnes-of-extra-pollution-analysis-shows
[17] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/13/uk-pushing-for-limits-air-pollution-relaxed-documents-reveal
[18] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/18/uk-faces-fresh-legal-challenge-over-weak-plans-to-tackle-air-pollution