Parts of the UK reached the highest level of air pollution on Friday, prompting health warnings.
Warm, still conditions combined with traffic fumes, pollution from the continent and dust from the Sahara.
Experts warned vulnerable people not to take strenuous exercise outside.
Warnings about dirty air come so often that only the most severe seem to catch anyone’s attention.
The last major episode to grab the headlines came a year ago when many areas of Britain were blanketed in a noxious brew that turned the skies grey-brown for several days.
At the time, all eyes were focused on the most exotic -sounding ingredient – dust that had been blown up from the Sahara.
Tiny grains from the desert had indeed made the long airborne trek from the desert but most of the problem was caused by a nasty mix of pollutants created here and abroad.
Britain frequently finds itself on the receiving-end of pollution wafted in from the Continent – and more of that is forecast tomorrow with a current of air circling from central Europe across southern France and over the English Channel.
A computer model from the American weather agency NOAA calculates where the air that will be over London tomorrow has come from.
A so-called “back-trajectory” plots the position of a single parcel of air every six hours so you can see its path over the past four days.
The chart also shows that the pollution cloud will generally remain below 500m in altitude which means it is concentrated in a relatively small air space and therefore packs more of a punch.
As often happens, this shows that much of the contamination comes from the industrial sites and major cities of northwest Europe.
Complex pattern
But farmers in those regions may also be to blame. April often sees them spreading fertiliser on their fields which releases plumes of ammonia that are lofted into the atmosphere and carried on the air currents.
How much of this stuff actually reaches Britain all depends on the precise pattern of the winds – a slight shift in one direction can despatch it all over the ocean, a tweak the other way could see it billowing our way.
But continental pollution is only one part of the story. A major and awkward factor behind dirty British air is Britain itself – home grown pollution from our factories and power stations and traffic.
Scientists have an array of instruments to tease out the different sources of pollution – a version of CSI forensics that can pick out where the muck has come from.
The tiniest particles are known as PM2.5 – because they’re smaller than 2.5 microns across.
If these are more than a few days old, they are known as “aged particulates” and were produced across the Channel before being sent our way.
If they are identified as sulphates they will have been emitted from industries; nitrates on this scale come from the exhaust fumes of traffic.
Taking a breath of these “aged particulates” means you may well be inhaling a blast of pollution generated when someone accelerated away from traffic lights in northern France. Dirty air knows no boundaries.
But the same techniques can nail which pollution has been produced here. “Fresh” or “primary” particulates – only several hours old – serve as a smoking-gun to identify sources in Britain.
And research indicates an ugly truth: that we export more air pollution than we receive. An infamous “London plume” of contaminated air frequently stretches eastwards to northern France.
This clearly showed up in instruments deployed by a pollution research plane that I joined during the London Olympics in 2012.
According to Dr Ben Barratt of King’s College London, the problem is worst in urban areas and is both chronic and serious.
“We can’t solve the problem merely by reacting to every episode – we need to change our behaviour every day because it’s the long-term exposure that matters for your health.”
All this comes as the British government faces another stage in a long legal battle for breaching European Union standards on nitrogen dioxide, one form of air pollution.
An environmental campaign group, Client Earth, has brought a series of challenges. Next Thursday, the Supreme Court will hold a hearing on whether the government should be ordered to produce a more radical pollution reduction plan than already outlined.
Under current proposals, Britain will meet EU standards by 2030, with the conurbations of London, the West Midlands and North West England forecast to be the last to fall into line.
None of this is remotely on the scale of what Chinese city-dwellers have to put up with. A couple of years ago I saw for myself how grim the situation can be in China and what the authorities are now trying to do.
But nothing attracts attention like your own skies turning a slightly funny colour, and yet again hearing the health warnings to the aged, the asthmatic and the infirm to keep out of harm’s way.
via Longer-term thinking ‘needed’ on air pollution – BBC News.
Dirtiest air expected to hit Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings, where older people and children have been urged to avoid any strenuous activity at all
A major spike in air pollution across much of England poses a risk to those suffering from respiratory diseases, older people and children, health charities warned on Friday.
The government pushed its smog alert levels to “very high” – its most extreme pollution warning – for some parts of south east England.
In Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings the official advice is for all residents – regardless of their health – to reduce their physical exertion. Older people and children on Easter school holidays have been urged to avoid any strenuous activity at all.
In other areas of England, particularly the south east and Midlands, the smog levels will be high enough to cause problems for those with pre-existing problems.
Dr Penny Woods, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation (BLF), said: “To reduce the impact, people who find their health affected can take simple steps such as avoiding busy roads, especially during rush hour, and refraining from strenuous exercise outside.”
The event closely follows another high level pollution event in March. Professor Malcolm Green, founder of the BLF, said long term exposure to air pollution was “associated with lung diseases including asthma, as well as lung cancer, and can make symptoms worse in those with pre-existing respiratory conditions. The effects of air pollution depend on the severity of exposure, length of exposure, and susceptibility of the individual”.
Asthma UK told asthma sufferers to carry their inhalers at all times. Especially as the high pollution event was due to combine with increased pollen counts.
“Poor air quality and pollen allergy can both trigger asthma symptoms, and increase the chance of a potentially life-threatening asthma attack. Children can be more affected by pollution because they have faster breathing rates, and their lungs are still developing,” said an Asthma UK advisory.
Woods said it was unfair that those suffering asthma and other lung conditions should be repeatedly forced indoors by air pollution events.
“People living with lung conditions shouldn’t have to take such steps simply to avoid being made ill by the air they breathe. With periods of high pollution often resulting from a combination of domestically-produced pollution and that coming from mainland Europe, we need urgent action from government to clean up the air we breathe, across all government departments at home and at a pan-European level.”
Keith Taylor is the Greens MEP for the south east, the area most heavily affected by Friday’s event, said the problem should be a national priority. “Whoever forms the next government, one of the first things they must do is to urgently address this public health crisis that currently only seems to be getting worse.”
Simon Birkett, director of campaign group Clean Air in London, said: “This is the biggest, most serious air pollution or particle episode since the so-called Sahara dust episode a year ago.
“If there is one lesson this week, it’s that we must follow the lead of cities like Paris that are issuing public health warnings, restricting traffic and putting forward ambitious plans to triple cycling rates within five years.”
The slow moving cloud of smog is being fed by a sluggish southerly weather system, which is also responsible for this week’s warm spring weather.
Dr Helen Dacre, a meteorologist at the University of Reading, said: “Southerly flow will lead to pollution being imported from the industrialised urban parts of Europe. This pollution will blow across Britain and add to the local pollution produced by British car drivers and heavy industry, creating high concentrations of pollutants in the air. On Saturday however, the weather will change. Clean Atlantic air will spread across the UK and pollution will return to low levels.”
Northern Europe, especially France, will be cloaked in a thick shroud of smog for much of Friday. In Paris and northern cities the government has reduced all traffic speed limits by 20km/hr. Residential parking has been made free in Paris to encourage people to leave their cars at home. In March, Paris implemented license plate bans to take half of all cars from the road.
via Air pollution spike across England sparks warning from health charities | Environment | The Guardian.
Parts of the UK could reach the highest level of air pollution on Friday, prompting health warnings.
Warm, still conditions are expected to combine with traffic fumes, pollution from the continent and Saharan dust from the south as it rises to level 10.
Much of the South East and eastern England will see high levels of pollution, although the problem is expected to be short-lived.
Defra said overnight Atlantic winds will disperse polluted air by Saturday.
In areas experiencing very high levels of air pollution, adults and children with lung problems, adults with heart problems and older people are advised to avoid strenuous activity.
People are also advised to reduce physical exertion, particularly outside, and asthma sufferers may need to use their reliever inhaler more often.
Healthy people tend to notice air pollution as a dry throat, sore eyes or a tickly cough.
But it can have a more serious impact on health by being the trigger for a heart attack or by making asthma worse.
Even low levels of air pollution can harm the health of people who are particularly sensitive.
But on Friday pollution will hit “level 10” or “very high” – the highest category of air pollution in the UK.
It does not mean people need to stay indoors.
But it is the only category of air pollution at which at-risk people – those with heart or lung problems and the elderly – are told to completely avoid strenuous physical activity.
Even healthy people are told to cut down on the amount of physical exertion.
However, the pollution will be brief and levels will drop to low/moderate by Saturday.
‘National embarrassment’
People are also advised to avoid busy roads and those who carry a reliever inhaler should always have it with them.
Dr Penny Woods, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said: “This latest high air pollution episode, coming so soon after the last, is troubling, and could again put people living with respiratory conditions at risk of worsening symptoms.”
A Defra spokeswoman said: “This is expected to clear on Saturday and pollution levels will return to low throughout the morning.”
A case brought by environmental lawyers Client Earth against the government over levels of air pollution that breach European Union rules is shortly to return to the Supreme Court.
Philip Insall, director of health for cycling charity Sustrans, described the state of air pollution in Britain as “criminal” and a “national embarrassment”.
He said: “The next government will need to get a grip on air pollution.
“That will mean serious, dedicated investment and an effective programme of action to help more people out of their cars and choosing walking and cycling for short journeys.”
Pollution levels will peak on Friday, particularly in areas of south-east England where the government are advising the entire population to reduce physical activity
Harmful levels of air pollution will accompany the warm weather expected across the UK on Friday, triggering government warnings that people with health problems should reduce their physical activity.
Much of central, eastern and northern England will be blanketed in high pollution, according to the official UK Air site, with some of south-east England affected by very high pollution.
The episode is blamed on a combination of dirty air from the continent, the fine weather conditions and Saharan dust, which contributed to several days of serious pollution one year ago. Temperatures are expected to reach almost 20C in some areas on Friday.
This week’s warning comes a day after Islamist hackers took control of UK Air, posting a portrait of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and criticising the UK government for the 2003 Iraq invasion. The site, which is run by consultancy Ricardo-AEA on the environment department’s behalf, is still offline but a spokeswoman said they were working to get it up again “as soon as possible”. Pollution forecasts are being posted on a holding page.
In regions hit by high pollution on Friday, the official health advice is for adults and children with lung problems to reduce their physical activity, and for all older people to reduce physical exertion. In the very high areas, which include Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings, the entire population are advised to reduce physical activity.
A Met Office spokeswoman said the settled weather this week meant the pollution episode was likely to happen, but would be blown away by Saturday.
“We do have a weak front crossing the UK late on Friday which is bringing some cooler, fresher air behind it. Until then we have these fairly calm, settled conditions which means any pollution buildup doesn’t move, it’s trapped there,” she said.
Pollution levels are expected to rise throughout Thursday in advance, but the forecast is for largely low levels by Saturday.
Dr Penny Woods, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said: “This latest high air pollution episode, coming so soon after the last, is troubling, and could again put people living with respiratory conditions at risk of worsening symptoms.”
She added: “With periods of high pollution often resulting from a combination of domestically-produced pollution and that coming from mainland Europe, we need urgent action from government to clean up the air we breathe, across all government departments at home and at a pan-European level.”
On Wednesday, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint against a Transport for London newspaper advert that claimed Boris Johnson’s planned ‘ultra low emissions zone’ would cut vehicle pollution by half. The ASA rejected two other complaints but ruled that the advert’s claim was misleading because it only referred to two pollutants, NO2 and NOx, and did not include CO2, PM10 and PM2.5 emissions, which would not be cut by half.
TfL said it would appeal the decision.
via Warm weather brings high air pollution warnings for much of England | Environment | The Guardian.
It’s no surprise to residents of the country’s capital that Delhi’s air quality can be terrible, but now they can know just how dangerous it is to go outside.
The air quality index from the Central Pollution Control Board is the first national index to explain in layman’s terms the effect that breathing the air in 10 cities could have on a person’s health.
It started producing readings on Monday.
In Shadipur in western Delhi, for instance, the air on Monday morning contained three to four times the recommended level of small airborne particles – pollutants linked to serious health problems, including lung cancer.
The air quality index translates detailed information on different pollutants into a color-coded warning system. Hours where pollution was below regulatory limits are colored green to represent minimal impact on health, the hours in shades of red indicate levels that would affect healthy people and have a serious impact on those with pre-existing conditions.
The index, overseen by the environment ministry, calculates the average pollution for a day, which the government says is a better way to judge air quality.
If a resident of western Delhi wanted to avoid breathing in the worst air on Monday, they would have had to stay indoors until around 8:30 a.m. when the air quality had become less harmful, according to the data.
Pollution levels in that area fell as the day wore on, helping to push up the average air quality to “moderate,” or yellow, on the Indian government scale. Moderately polluted air means that it would cause “breathing discomfort” to people with asthma as well as those with diseases of the heart and lungs.
Environmentalists welcomed the move but said it wasn’t enough just to publish the data.
“We like the idea that the government is now making the effort to inform people about health hazards on a daily basis, in a language people understand,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of the Centre for Science and Environment, a New Delhi-based organization that lobbies for stronger protection for the environment.
Ms. Roychowdhury hopes that the data will make people realize that “hard decisions must be taken to clean up the air.”
Air pollution in Indian cities can be terrible, but it’s also predictable.
“In December, 65% of the days were severe [on the government scale], with pollution levels eight to nine times regulatory limits,” Ms. Roychowdhury said. “In March, there were no severe days.”
Cold winter air means that the cities pollution stays where we can breathe it instead of rising into the stratosphere, and the damp fog helps capture all the dust from coal fires and car tailpipes. “There’s an obvious seasonality to it,” Ms. Roychowdhury said.
The next step is for the government to use this data to do something about the pollution. It could follow the lead of other countries but pollution controls might not go down well with Indian car owners—or those celebrating wedding or religious holidays.
In Beijing, the government restricts what days you can drive your car if there are too many consecutive days of high pollution. They shut down factories and prohibit the use of firecrackers and barbecues.
Paris chooses to make public transportation free on days with high pollution.
Indian cities need similar ways to react to pollution and bring the levels down, Ms. Roychowdhury said. “They need to be more proactive about disseminating information, and not just put it on a website,” she said.
via How India’s New Air Quality Index Works – India Real Time – WSJ.
The City of Lights is spending $160 million to become “the cycling capital of the world”
So far, Paris’ stop-gap attempts to deal with its episodes of crippling smog have been decidedly car-centric. The city’s tried temporarily lowering speed limits. This year and last, it’s banned half of all drivers from the road during spikes in air pollution. And a new program will offer drivers up to €10,000 ($11,422) to trade in their diesel cars for electric models.
But a new plan relies less on disincentivizing cars and instead on making a clean, healthy form of transportation more appealing. That’s right: Paris wants to become a bike city.
Actually, it’s aiming to become “world capital of cycling.” And the city’s proposing a €150 million ($164.5 million) plan to make it happen by 2020.
The plan, which will go before the city council next week, is definitely bold: it aims to double Paris’ current bike lanes and create 80 kilometers (50 miles) of brand-new routes; create five, barrier-protected bike highways; cut vehicle speed limits down to 30 kilometers (18 miles) per hour; provide financial incentives for purchasing electric bikes; and add 10,000 new bike parking spots, with the ultimate goal of tripling the share of bike trips, from 5 to 15 percent.
Critics are skeptical that Paris is going to become the next Amsterdam in just five years. But there’s a lot to like about the city’s ambitions, experts told Wired:
Providing a good cyclist experience—so pedaling around the city feels safe and comfortable—is key, says Geoff Anderson, president and CEO of Smart Growth America, a coalition that works against sprawl. More bike lanes should do that, especially the five proposed “highways” that will be almost entirely protected from car traffic, on some of the city’s biggest corridors, including the Champs-Elysées.
It’s also key to build a real transportation network, Anderson says. “Way too many places are just thinking about cycling in terms of individual facilities, rather than as integrated systems” that actually take you from one place to another. Paris seems to get that as well: Along with all the extra lanes, the plan calls for making biking into and out of Paris safer, with traffic calming measures at the busy intersections around the city’s edge. That makes cycling more practical for inhabitants of the largely impoverished suburbs. The 10,000 new parking stations would make the end of any trip easy instead of a pain.
It’s the comprehensive nature of the plan, in other words, that makes it likely to work (not to mention the millions backing it up). But if the city comes through, it’ll prove that it doesn’t take a miracle — or, say, a $360 million system of elevated bike paths — to make biking appealing to commuters.
via Paris’ bold plan for solving its air pollution woes: Start a biking revolution – Salon.com.
Air pollution levels could reach a high level in Reading , Wokingham and Bracknell on Friday.
Stronger winds are set to sweep in by the end of week which means it’s bad news for hayfever sufferers.
And those who suffer from lung or heart problems are being urged to reduce any strenuous physical activity, and people with asthma may need to use their inhaler more often.
Anyone experiencing discomfort such as sore eyes, a cough or sore throat should consider reducing activity, particularly outdoors.
Air levels should return to normal on Saturday.
via Weather warning: Air pollution levels to reach high level on Friday – Get Reading.
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