Log
The Great Smog
I had never heard of The Great Smog of 1952 until I heard a story on NPR about it. Fifty years ago this week, London was overrun with a dense yellow smog that blocked out the sun and killed thousands of people. Apparently a thick fog rolled in that chilled the air, so people stoked up their coal-burning furnaces, which created a smog, which made it colder, which caused people to stoke up their coal-fired furnaces, which… Well, you get the idea.
It’s amazing that something so incredibly haunting has remained obscure. It’s an incredible thing—smog creeping into buildings, halting orchestra performances, stopping traffic, driving claustrophobics insane.
12/11/02 08:55PM Miscellany
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amit:
Yes…it was an amazing story. Hopefully, Los Angeles is not trying to compete for the title!
12/11/02 8:59PM