THE GREAT LONDON KILLER SMOG OF 1952

In December 1952, London was trapped in a deadly cloud of fog and pollution for five days. At the time, the city ran on cheap coal for everything from generating power to heating homes.

Smog had become a frequent part of London life, but nothing compared to the smoke-laden fog that shrouded the capital from Friday 5 December to Tuesday 9 December 1952.

While these days most of us are no strangers to pollution warnings in big cities around the world. The smog managed to make its way inside homes and in the course of five days killed around 4,000 people with another 100,000 people becoming ill. With modern technology, it is even speculated the death toll made its way up to over 120,000.

While it affected the population of London, causing a huge death toll and inconveniencing millions of people. The people it affected were also partly to blame for the smog.

During the day on 5 December, the fog was not especially dense and generally possessed a dry, smoky character. When nightfall came, however, the fog thickened. Visibility dropped to a few metres. The following day, the sun was too low in the sky to burn the fog away. That night and on the Sunday and Monday nights, the fog again thickened. In many parts of London, it was impossible at night for pedestrians to find their way, even in familiar districts. In The Isle of Dogs area, the fog there was so thick people could not see their feet.

The weather in November and early December 1952 had been very cold, with heavy snowfalls across the region. To keep warm, the people of London were burning large quantities of coal in their homes. Smoke was pouring from the chimneys of their houses.

There were people who died in their bed, died in the hospital rooms, and because there were no central computerised systems for the hospitals, there was no data that connected all of the deaths. It was anecdotal evidence. But even the doctors in the hospital said, ‘You know, we just thought we had a really rough few days.’ It didn’t occur to people that this happened across the city. The media didn’t connect it.

During the period of the fog, huge amounts of impurities were released into the atmosphere. On each day during the foggy period, the following pollutants were emitted: 1,000 tonnes of smoke particles, 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, 140 tonnes of hydrochloric acid and 14 tonnes of fluorine compounds. In addition, and perhaps most dangerously, 370 tonnes of sulphur dioxide were converted into 800 tonnes of sulphuric acid.

The fog finally cleared on December 9, but it had already taken a heavy toll. Many people suffered from breathing problems. Press reports claimed cattle at Smithfield had been asphyxiated by the smog.

A series of laws were brought in to avoid a repeat of the situation. This included the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968. These acts banned emissions of black smoke and decreed residents of urban areas and operators of factories must convert to smokeless fuels.

People were given time to adapt to the new rules, however, and fogs continued to be smoky for some time after the Act of 1956 was passed. In 1962, for example, 750 Londoners died as a result of a fog, but nothing on the scale of the 1952 Great Smog has ever occurred again. This kind of smog has now become a thing of the past, thanks partly to pollution legislation and also to modern developments, such as the widespread use of central heating.