London's air polution

**alhoon** · August 31, 2010, 07:36 PM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0...arte=1#s131013

"Greater London has experienced some of the worst air pollution worldwide as a result of car, factory, agriculture and house pollution. The life expectancy of Britons has been reduced by nine years due to air pollution. Britain is considered to be Europe's greatest releaser of nitrogen oxides, exposing 1.5 million people to unsafe quantities of the pollution. According to a report from Parliament, 50,000 people die prematurely each year due to man-made air pollution. "

OMG... The average Briton's life expectancy has been reduced by 9 years?!? (PS. That's a tad high for a SINGLE reason to accuse, except it's the black plague...)
When was the time that a queen in London decided that London had too much air polution and moved her palace away?

There should be policies and laws set to stop such things!

**Phier** · August 31, 2010, 07:39 PM

Whenever I see things like 9 years of life expectancy being lowered and a single cause like that, it makes me wonder exactly what magic statistics were done to prove it. Normally its a linear regression which don't work in biology but are often used to scare people on environmental matters.

**alhoon** · August 31, 2010, 07:41 PM

Originally Posted by Phier

Whenever I see things like 9 years of life expectancy being lowered and a single cause like that, it makes me wonder exactly what magic statistics were done to prove it.

Good point. I'll add that there.

**Nikos** · August 31, 2010, 10:34 PM

Moved to the Athenaeum.

-Nikos

**Vizsla** · September 02, 2010, 09:55 AM

I think Boris the mayor of London is supposed to be legally obliged to find ways of lowering air pollution,
some kind of EU commitment or other related bosh.
The average life expectancy is rising. It's about 80 now.

So presumably when they say reduced life expectancy they mean in the sense of 'not rising as fast as it should'.
There is no country in the world in which the average life expectancy is 89 odd.
So the Huffington Post is talking out of its arse.
Love the caricature picture of Tower Bridge though - because that's what all bridges look like in stuffy old England.

**pannonian** · September 02, 2010, 12:08 PM

The description sounds like smog-era London, before domestic use of coal was ended.

**Maverick** · September 11, 2010, 02:23 AM

Originally Posted by pannonian

The description sounds like smog-era London, before domestic use of coal was ended.

Positively charming!

Just like the "smog" over LA creates an almost sepia like effect from a silent era film, how nostalgic!

**mattgoby** · September 02, 2010, 02:34 PM

I think Boris the mayor of London is supposed to be legally obliged to find ways of lowering air pollution,

I doubt boris can read to be honest let alone no what pollution means.

**Vizsla** · September 03, 2010, 03:14 AM

Originally Posted by mattgoby

I doubt boris can read to be honest let alone no what pollution means.

Why is a sense of humour, honesty and a Classical education anathema to lefties?

I bet Boris knows the difference between 'no' and 'know'.

**Copperknickers II** · September 03, 2010, 10:37 AM

Boris is anathema to anyone who sees the numerous reasons why it is beyond belief that he is in a position of such high responsibility.

**Turtle Hammer** · September 07, 2010, 03:51 PM

Boris Johnson's not quite as thick as he lets people think. Beneath that big grinning thatch-headed visage is actually quite a keen political mind.

As for London, suprisingly the tubes are the worst air in that city. A friend of mine commuted on the tube for a week and decided to use a SARS mask, it went from white to grey.

**DarkArk** · September 08, 2010, 07:50 AM

Interesting, I never thought of London air as being that bad. It certainly didn't seem that bad to me. Beijing on the other hand, now that is some terrible air quality.

**pannonian** · September 11, 2010, 05:02 AM

Originally Posted by DarkArk

Interesting, I never thought of London air as being that bad. It certainly didn't seem that bad to me. Beijing on the other hand, now that is some terrible air quality.

London is bad compared to the surrounding suburbs and countryside, but it's not bad compared to cities that are more recently developed. Chinese cities are notoriously polluted, but Mexico City has the worst reputation of the lot IIRC, combining population density and industrialisation, not-so-westernised air pollution standards and location in a bowl with little clearing wind.