Waybackin1662JohnEvelynabrilliantEnglishmanknownforhisdetaileddiarieswroteaboutdisastrouseffectsofcoal-burningonthecityofLondon.Inithedescribedaninfernalsceneofsmogairfilledwith"ColumnsandCloudsof
Waybackin1662JohnEvelynabrilliantEnglishmanknownforhisdetaileddiarieswroteaboutdisastrouseffectsofcoal-burningonthecityofLondon.Inithedescribedaninfernalsceneofsmogairfilledwith"ColumnsandCloudsofSmoke"givenoutbysmallindustriesandresidencesthatburnedcoalforfuel.
Ifoundthedescriptioninthe2003bookWhenSmokeRanlikeWaterby
epidemiologist(流行病学家)andenvironmentaladvocator(倡导者)DevraDavis.InitDavislooksbackatseveralhistoricpollutioneventsandtheirdisastrouseffectsonhumanhealth―andathowthesephenomenawereoftenignoredorevenactive?lycoveredupbypeopleinchargeatthattime.
AsDavispointsoutJohnEvelynwasaheadofhistimewhenwritingabouthowLondon'spollutedairaf?fectedthewell-beingofitsresidents.Itwasn'tuntilnearly300yearslaterafterwhatbecamewell-knownastheGreatSmogof1952thatthegovernmentbegantoaddresstheprobleminasystematicway.
ForfourdaysbetweenDecember5thand9thduetoalltheaccidentsoftheweatherpatternthecitywasburiedinaheavyfog.Peoplewerestillburningcoalforfuelandlow-gradecoalatthattimebecauseofwartimecondition.Atemperatureinversion(转向)trappedthesmokefromthecity'sfirescreatingablackcloudinwhichpeoplecouldbarelyfindtheirwaydownthemostfamiliarstreets.Sometriedtoprotectthemselvesbutmostpeoplesimplywentabouttheirbusiness.
But1952'sfogwasfarworsethananyotherinmemory.Inthesameweekofthepreviousyear1852peoplehaddiedinLondon;in1952thatnumberwas4703.Andthedeathsdidn'tstopwhentheweatherchangedandthefoglifted.Davisandhercolleaguesan?alyzeddatafromthenextseveralmonthsandfoundthatabout13000morepeoplediedbetweenDecemberandMarchthanonewouldhavepredictedfromhistoricalav?erages.Manyofthemdiedofpneumonia(肺炎).Thegovernmentshewritestriedtoblameabadfluseason.Herdetailedanalysisfoundthatexplanationsimplydidnotpanout.
Daviswritesthateventodayinthiscountrywestillhavenotcompletelyabsorbedthelessonsofsimilarevents.ThekillerfoghasliftedinLondonforsixty-yearsandpeoplearedying
preventabledeathsandsuf?feringlifechangingillnessessimplybecausetheymustbreat