Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Recent pollution episode in the UK

Writing in the Guardian newspaper Tim Chatterton notes that last month saw one of the biggest pollution episodes that the UK has witnessed for several years, at least outside of the summer months. This was caused in part by a pre-polluted flow of air arriving from the continent but also of course from our own home grown pollution. Around the country almost 30 sites breached pollution target levels for PM10. There was a palpable lack of action on the part of the Government who seem not to have any kind of strategy for dealing with peak pollution episodes or even warning people. Many people will have been suffering from respiratory symptoms as a consequence. The lack of a warning strategy is particularly unfortunate given the opportunities for individuals to take avertive behaviour as outlined in an earlier posting.

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