![]() ![]() Interestingly, while the London fog was highly acidic, contemporary Chinese haze is basically neutral."Ī better understanding of air chemistry is key to developing effective regulatory actions in China, Zhang said. "Again, the right chemical processes have to interplay for the deadly haze to occur in China. Nitrogen dioxide is from power plants and automobiles, and ammonia comes from fertilizer use and automobiles," Zhang said. "In China, sulfur dioxide is mainly emitted by power plants. Also, the formation of sulfate is only possible with ammonia, the scientists added. The researchers said that the main difference between China's smog and the killer London fog is that China's haze is made up of much smaller nanoparticles. Environmental Protection Agency's acceptable air standards. ![]() For instance, air pollution in Beijing often far exceeds the U.S. China has battled air pollution for decades, and it is home to 16 of the world's 20 most polluted cities, according to the researchers. The air of cities in China, which is often heavily polluted, has a chemistry that's similar to the killer fog in London, Zhang and his colleagues found. Researchers still consider it the worst air pollution event in European history. The 1952 killer fog led to the creation of the Clean Air Act, which the British Parliament passed in 1956. The question was, How did sulfur dioxide get turned into sulfuric acid? Sulfuric acid particles, which formed from the sulfur dioxide that was released from the burning of coal, were also a component of the fog. Study lead author Renyi Zhang, an atmospheric scientist at Texas A&M University, said that sulfate was a big contributor to the deadly London fog. recreated the fog in a lab using results from laboratory experiments and atmospheric measurements from Beijing and Xi’an, two heavily polluted cities in China. To determine what turned the fog into a killer, an international team of scientists from China, the U.S. Researchers have for a long time connected emissions from burning coal with the killer fog, but the specific chemical processes that led to the deadly mix of pollution and fog were not fully understood. ![]() Recently, a team of researchers has determined the likely reasons for its formation. Despite its lethal nature, the exact cause and nature of the killer fog has largely remained a mystery. Researchers now estimate that the total death count was likely more than 12,000 people, as well as thousands of animals. By the time the dense fog cover lifted, more than 150,000 people had been hospitalized and at least 4,000 people had died. London may be known for its drizzly weather, but in 1952 the city's quintessential fog cover turned deadly, and no one knew why - until now.įor five days in December 1952, a fog that contained pollutants enveloped all of London. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |