Taking history as a mirror, how did Britain get rid of the name of "foggy city"

In these two days, Beijing issued the first red warning of smog. Stop work, suspend classes, and limit the number. Beijing has been blocked by smog. This also made Beijing almost take over the name of "Fog Capital". London's "Fog Capital" has a long history, but the most famous one is 1952, which shocked the world. According to historical records, in the four days from February 5, 65438 to February 8, 65438, the death toll in London reached 4000. In the next two months, another 8,000 people died.

Fog capital London

In fact, the smog problem in London has existed for a long time. As the pioneer and center of the industrial revolution, with the rapid rise of the British economy, the consumption of a large number of fossil fuels, especially coal, has been increasing, making the air pollution in London more and more serious. The direct cause of fog and haze in London is sulfur dioxide and dust pollution caused by coal burning.

Smoke often appears in the works of writers and painters as a symbol of London. French painter Monet 1870 or so went to London to see the fog. If it is sunny one day, Monet will be particularly disappointed: "All my canvases seem to be blank." Now, Monet's works have also become the most intuitive historical archives of air pollution in London in the late19th century.

Monet's parliament building in the fog

The "London Haze Incident" was like a heavy hammer, which made the British people determined to start rectifying air pollution, and gave birth to the introduction of the world's first air pollution prevention and control bill, the Clean Air Act. The law puts forward measures such as prohibiting black smoke emission, increasing chimney height and establishing smoke-free areas, and involves controlling the number of motor vehicles and adjusting the energy structure. At the same time, a Clean Air Committee was set up to supervise the improvement of air pollution, and it was proposed that local governments should be responsible for delineating smoke control areas, transforming family fireplaces, replacing fuel and prohibiting black smoke emission. By 1975, the number of foggy days in London has decreased from tens of days to 15 days, and from 1980 to 5 days. Fog is no longer worthy of the name.

Unfortunately, London's struggle with fog didn't end there. After the 1980s, the number of cars in London surged. At that time, the number of motor vehicles reached 2.44 million, and the traffic jam was serious. Since 198 1, the number of people driving out in London has increased by 20%, accounting for 43% of all work trips. Traffic pollution has replaced industrial pollution as the main threat to air quality in London. The British government has to take a series of measures to combat the air pollution caused by cars.

The first is to control the emission of nitrogen oxide pollution from vehicles. Previously, the British people strongly protested the lead content in automobile exhaust. Once lead is inhaled, it cannot be discharged, which will seriously affect the intelligence of future generations. After promoting the use of unleaded gasoline, it is found that other pollutants emitted by automobiles, such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and unstable organic compounds, are also extremely harmful. After they are irradiated by ultraviolet rays in the sun, they will have complex photochemical reactions, producing a variety of secondary pollutants, mainly ozone, forming "photochemical smog."

From 1993 to 1, all new cars sold in China must be equipped with catalytic converters to reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides. Strictly control the carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and other components in automobile exhaust, and check whether the carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides in automobile exhaust meet the standards during the annual inspection.

Secondly, congestion charges and the development of public transportation will be used to limit the flow of private cars. Since February 2003, the city government of London has stipulated that the charging area is 8.5 square kilometers in central London (now it has been expanded to 22 square kilometers). Driving in the toll area from 7: 00 am to 6: 00 pm from Monday to Friday requires a congestion charge. The congestion charge has increased in the past 10 years, and now it has risen from 5 pounds per day to 1 1.5 pounds. Subsequently, the London City Government announced a stricter "Traffic 2025" plan to restrict private cars from entering London. Research shows that this measure reduces the traffic congestion in the toll area by 26%. The driving speed in the area has increased by 5-10 km/h; From 2003 to 2006, this measure reduced the concentrations of nitrogen oxides (NOX), PM 10 and CO2 pollutants emitted by traffic by 17%, 24% and 3% respectively. London Mayor Boris plans to reduce private car traffic in London by 9% by 2023. At the same time, London gives priority to the development of public transport network, encourages citizens to choose subway or public transport system, and plans to build 12 bicycle expressway. Mayor Boris himself insists on commuting by bike every day.

Recently, the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission announced that it would study the 20 16 pilot congestion charge, which once again triggered a heated discussion. I wonder what will happen if Beijing collects congestion charges?

In addition, in 2008, the London government implemented the policy of low pollution emission zone. Vehicles driving in low-pollution emission areas must meet certain emission standards, otherwise they will be charged. The move aims to speed up the upgrading of heavily polluting vehicles, promote the installation of emission reduction devices on old vehicles, reduce vehicle pollution emissions and improve air quality in London. The results show that compared with the areas outside the low pollution discharge area, the implementation of this measure reduces the pollution concentration of PM 10 by about 2.46% ~ 3.07%. Moreover, London's air quality strategy also emphasizes that in the future, the control of motor vehicle emissions will be strengthened by continuously improving the entry threshold of low-emission areas.

The government has also promulgated or revised a series of bills, such as the automobile fuel law (198 1 year), air quality standards (1989), environmental protection law (1990) and road vehicle supervision law (199/kloc). National Air Quality Strategy (1997), Greater London Government Act (1999) and Pollution Prevention Act (1999). This series of air pollution prevention and control bills strictly limit other exhaust emissions and formulate clear punishment measures to control air pollution in London. Since 1995, Britain has formulated a national air quality strategy, which stipulates that all cities should evaluate and review air quality. For areas that fail to meet the standards, the government must set aside air quality management zones and force them to meet the standards within the prescribed time limit.

The government has also opened various air monitoring information to the outside world. British citizens can invoke the Freedom of Information Act to obtain relevant data from government environmental protection agencies, and they must not refuse and accept the supervision of the whole people. The mainstream media will also strongly criticize the government's mistakes.

In addition, by building "new cities" around big cities, the population density in the central area of the city can be effectively reduced. From 65438 to 0945, Britain began the government-led new town construction movement. By the mid-1970s, 33 new towns had been built, accommodating 23% of urban residents. Effectively reduce the population density in urban centers and reduce traffic pollution. In addition, pollution is prevented by strengthening greening. At present, one third of the urban area of London is covered by gardens, public green spaces and forests. There are 100 community gardens, 14 urban farms, 80 km long canals and more than 50 nature reserves full of flowers and plants. These green belts effectively purify the air.

New problems

Being very concerned about carbon dioxide emissions, the EU prefers to use diesel rather than gasoline. Diesel cars are all the rage in Britain. However, this has also caused another hidden danger, nitrogen dioxide pollution-although the label of "foggy city" has been removed for many years, Britain is still one of the countries with the worst air quality in the EU.

In 20 12 years, the air nitrogen dioxide content in 30 1 locations in Europe exceeded the EU standard. Seven locations in London exceeded the standard, as did Rome, Athens, Madrid, Brussels and Berlin. In 15 13 monitoring points, Mariborn Road in London is the worst.

The EU's maximum limit on nitrogen dioxide is 40 micrograms per cubic meter of air. According to the data of the European Environment Agency, in 20 12 years, the content per cubic meter of Mariborn Road was almost 94 micrograms. In 20 14, the European union decided to start legal proceedings for the ineffective air pollution control in Britain, which made Britain face a fine of nearly 300 million euros.

The regulations implemented by the European Union since 2000 allow diesel vehicles to emit three times as much nitrogen oxides (including nitrogen dioxide) as gasoline vehicles. The new regulations, which came into effect last September, narrowed the gap. Diesel vehicles are very popular in Britain, so it is particularly difficult for the British government to control the content of nitrogen dioxide in the air. At present, half of the cars in London are diesel vehicles, but before 10- 15, diesel vehicles only accounted for more than 10%. Ben Charles, environmental and energy adviser to the mayor of London, said: "We are trapped in a diesel car now." It is estimated that London will not implement the regulations issued by EU 20 10 until 2025.

The European Union's air pollution standards are so harsh that it has become one of the reasons why Volkswagen diesel vehicles choose emission fraud. You can imagine how wronged those EU countries were when they learned the truth-no wonder we were cheated because we didn't have the correct data.

Although it is no longer a "foggy city", Britain's struggle with smog continues. The situation in China is more complicated than that in Britain. Fuel pollution and exhaust pollution alternate, and there are too many provinces and cities with smog to control. Therefore, the rectification will not happen overnight. But we can learn from the experience of Britain, especially their determination to fight smog.