July has been a good month for air pollution, in contrast to previous years when the month has been a peak period for summertime smog. Brief periods of moderate ground-level ozone affected most of southern and eastern England, and warm weather at the end of the month caused moderate ozone to extend over Wales. Grangemouth, central Scotland, experienced pollution problems from the nearby steelworks but otherwise air pollution remained low.
The UK air pollution index divides peak air pollution concentrations into low, moderate, high and very high to help vulnerable people cope with the immediate health risks. The deaths of more than 4,000 people in the London smog of 1952, and those that followed, taught us that air pollution peaks had a major public health impact.
However, as our understanding of air pollution evolved from the 1990s it became clear that long-term exposure to low levels of pollution have a far greater health impact than short-term peaks. It is therefore of great concern that the UK and countries throughout Europe are struggling to comply with annual limits for particulate pollution and nitrogen dioxide.
The UK recently obtained more time to comply with EU limits for particulate pollution, which were originally set for 2005. The government now estimates that nitrogen dioxide limits set for 2010 may not be met in 16 major urban areas until 2015 to 2020, and after 2020 in London: 21 years after these limits were passed into law.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/09/pollutionwatch-summertime-smog-july
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