Home Vegetables Cities with an unfavorable ecological situation in the UK. The environmental situation in the UK. Global environmental problems of humanity

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Cities with an unfavorable ecological situation in the UK. The environmental situation in the UK. Global environmental problems of humanity

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After the Great Smog of 1952 claimed about 12 thousand lives in the British capital, measures were taken in the country to prevent such tragedies. However, it seems that these days the inhabitants of London are threatened by another insidious form of pollution, almost as deadly, says the correspondent.

Imagine a smog so thick that you cannot see your own legs in it; so dense that the sun barely peeps through it; so poisonous that your eyes start to water and your lungs burn.

This description resembles scenes from a post-apocalyptic film, but on December 5, 1952, this scenario became a reality for the people of London.

Thousands of people died then, and this tragedy forced the whole world to take serious measures to combat air pollution.

On that cold, clear day in 1952, Londoners basked in front of their fireplaces. Usually the smoke dissipated in the atmosphere, but an anticyclone hung over the entire area at that moment, causing a temperature inversion: the smoke was retained at the surface of the earth, as a result of which a poisonous sulfur veil was formed that covered the British capital for five days.

Then the weather changed, the smog dissipated, but by that time thousands of people had already died.

Image copyright Image caption A couple on the streets of London, November 1953. Almost a year after the Great Smog, Londoners still needed filter masks

According to the then official estimates, the number of victims was 4,000 - even during the Second World War there was no one-time incident, as a result of which the civilian population would have suffered such losses.

According to modern estimates, the Great could take up to 12 thousand lives.

"Inevitable evil"

"Pea soup", as the dense, polluted fog was called, was not a new phenomenon in large British cities. But the smog of 1952, even by the standards of that time, turned out to be too harsh.

It also marked an important turning point: Until then, people considered smog to be an inevitable evil. "In British cities that are completely dependent on coal, smog has been perceived for more than a century as a kind of payment for jobs and comfort in the home," says environmental historian Stephen Mosley.

There were also those who viewed air pollution as a visible sign of British industrial prosperity. And few people were ready to give up a burning fireplace, associated with home comfort.

Despite the increasingly loud calls to deal with the problem, the government reacted rather slowly. At first, the authorities even tried to argue that the high death rate in December 1952 was due to the outbreak of influenza.

Image copyright Monty Fresco Topical Press Agency Getty Images Image caption A power plant in London's Battersea borough (photo from 1954) once consumed over a million tons of coal annually

An investigation into the circumstances of the tragedy was launched only seven months later. Four years later, in 1956, the UK passed the Clean Air Act, which banned the burning of dirty fuel in several parts of the country.

This law was truly revolutionary and became an important world milestone in the protection of the environment.

Thanks to him, the health of the population has significantly improved; plants and animals, which had almost disappeared from urban areas by the 1950s, began to reappear in them; and the majestic buildings of British cities were no longer covered with a thick layer of soot and soot.

In subsequent years, a number of other industrialized countries followed the British example.

Atmospheric problems

Coal smoke pollution is a thing of the past, but London's air quality problem continues. In the course of a recent study, it was concluded that the polluted air of the capital takes away up to 9,500 lives annually.

A growing number of academics, politicians and activists are declaring that Britain must once again take on the role of global leader in this area on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Clean Air Act.

The said study was carried out by specialists from King's College London (KKL) at the request of the metropolitan transport authorities. Scientists believe that today, mortality is caused mainly by two factors: ultrafine particles of the PM2.5 class and a poisonous gas - nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

Image copyright Getty Image caption A cyclist during a smog in April 2014, when the concentration of nitrogen dioxide in the air was particularly high

Nitrogen dioxide is of particular concern: London air has one of the highest levels of this gas in the world. According to this parameter, the British capital has violated European safety standards for the last five years in a row.

In 2015, Oxford Street reached its annual NO2 emission limit in just four days.

KKL researchers estimate that up to 5,900 people die prematurely every year in London due to exposure to this gas.

Scientists have long known about the toxicity of nitrogen dioxide, but, as CCL specialist Martin Williams explains, it is usually present in the atmosphere along with other pollutants, and therefore it is rather difficult to distinguish its effect from the rest. However, now scientists have managed to establish how harmful it is.

However, study director Dr. Heather Walton says the exact number of NO2-related deaths cannot be ascertained with absolute certainty.

Nitrogen dioxide is released into the air from a variety of sources. But according to the UK government's Ecology and Rural Affairs Office, at least 80% of it is thrown away by vehicles.

The most dangerous in this sense are diesel engines, which are equipped with more than a third of the transport in the British capital.

Image copyright Getty Image caption Smoke over 02 Arena in London in April 2014

Compared to gasoline engines, diesel engines consume less fuel and emit less carbon dioxide into the air. Therefore, in the past few decades, the British authorities have tried in every possible way to promote their widespread implementation, turning a blind eye to the fact that diesel engines emit more microscopic particles and nitrogen oxides.

Ironically, diesel engines have proven to be more harmful thanks to technology designed to make them more environmentally friendly.

“Diesels emit a lot more particles than gasoline engines, and so they have particulate filters,” Williams says. “These filters collect particulate matter, but need to be burned out from time to time. and burn off the soot. Thus, nitrogen dioxide emissions are increasing in an attempt to address the particulate emissions problem. "

London's Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy Matthew Penchars says the problem, in part, is that EU tests of levels of pollution in car emissions cannot be relied on.

According to him, it happens that in real use, the vehicle turns out to be 10 times dirtier than on the test bench.

"If all cars emitted exactly as much as we are told in the EU, we would now be within the permissible limits for the content of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere," he assures.

In addition, in his opinion, the sad figures of London statistics can be explained by the fact that the level of pollution in the British capital is measured more accurately than in other places.

“We have one of the most reliable air pollution measurement systems in the world,” he says. “I’ll never believe that there is not a single street in the world that scores higher than Oxford Street. It’s just that no one measured anything there. And in general, no one measures as accurately as we do. "

Williams agrees: “We are indeed in the forefront - if not in the first place - in the field of monitoring. These levels are the highest we have found, but it seems to me that if you look properly, then probably in others cities will show up almost the same. "

Will it be easier for us to breathe?

But the good news is that nitrogen dioxide levels are starting to decline. Selective catalytic converting systems, capable of removing a significant portion of nitrogen oxides from the exhaust gases, are now mandatory for many of the dirtiest vehicles.

The QCL study indicates that there has been less NO2 in London air in recent years.

Modern, more environmentally friendly transport appears in the capital. More than 1,200 hybrid buses now operate in London, including the new diesel-electric Routemaster, which, according to transport authorities, emit four times less nitrogen oxides and particulate matter than conventional diesel buses.

The London Transportation Authority is expected to launch the world's first zero-emission double-decker bus soon.

Image copyright Metrocab Image caption Battery-powered Metrocab will help reduce toxicity in London's transport

Work is also underway to reduce emissions from London taxis. Transport authorities recently announced that from January 2018, a taxi license will only be issued for vehicles that emit less than 50 grams of CO2 per kilometer and can travel 30 miles (about 50 kilometers) without any emissions.

Licenses have already been granted this year for the first ever emission-free taxis, the Metrocabs, powered by a battery sometimes recharged by a small gasoline engine.

And the main manufacturer of black cabs, the London Taxi Company, showed a prototype of the TX5 model, which is planned to be put on the conveyor in 2016.

A so-called ultra-low emission zone will also be put in place: from 2020, all cars entering the already existing toll zone in central London will have to meet strict standards or their owners will be charged an additional daily fee.

But skeptics believe this measure is not strict enough. The mayor's office was recently criticized for abandoning a plan to keep the dirtiest vehicles out of the low-emission zone altogether.

In addition, now it is not planned to charge a fee for cars that meet the environmental standard Euro-6 - and such cars emit a lot of nitrogen oxides.

A recent survey of 500 London companies found that 23% of them would prefer to pay a toll rather than upgrade their fleets.

“You have to choose the areas where you can get the most out of the business with the least cost and administrative complexity,” Pencharz says.

Can you collect smog?

Most air cleanliness programs aim to reduce or eliminate emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere. But is it possible to remove the pollutant after it is in the air?

Recently, quite a few experiments have been carried out with various building materials and paints, which are said to be capable of degrading atmospheric pollutants - including nitrogen oxides.

These so-called photocatalytic materials contain titanium dioxide. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation from the sun, it speeds up chemical reactions, including the oxidation of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds.

Image copyright Getty Image caption At Tower Bridge during the Great Smog of 1952

Variants of this technology have been tested at a number of different sites, including the headquarters of Air France at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport and the Italian pavilion Palazzo Italia at Expo 2015 in Milan, which is covered with 13 thousand square meters of photocatalytic material. ...

But many scientists are not convinced that these materials have real benefits.

“There is laboratory evidence that they destroy nitrogen dioxide, but the atmosphere is not able to deliver to them NO2 in quantities that will neutralize the entire volume of the emitted volume,” says researcher at CCL Martin Williams. “When a pollutant enters the atmosphere, its molecules are everywhere, and trying to put them back together is quite a waste of time. "

According to him, catalysts should be applied at the very source of harmful emissions, and not retroactively.

Significant precedent

Some observers recall the Clean Air Act as an example of how flexible populations can adapt to change.

“Before the adoption of this law, everyone said that the budget would not have enough money, that low-income people would die of hunger and cold. But this did not happen,” Birket notes. “When the restrictions were introduced, the population found the cheapest ways to comply with them.”

History teaches us that it is very difficult to convince people to change their habits, and it is equally difficult to get the authorities to implement these changes in life.

"In the past, the right to burn coal in a home fireplace was considered inalienable, and until the 1952 smog, the government did not feel enough popular support to enact rules restricting personal freedoms," Mosley says. ...

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On December 13, 1951, thick smog enveloped London. About 2850 people died ... Exactly one year later, in early December 1952, about 14 thousand Londoners became victims of smog. It is believed that it was these tragedies that gave a strong impetus to the modern world nature conservation and ecological movement. People began to think about the quality of water, air, and the quality of life in general.

That eerie fog, mixed with smoke and exhaust gases, is still called the Great Smog in Great Britain. It enveloped London on December 5, 1952 and did not dissipate until December 9. Without a doubt, what happened was a real disaster. Moreover, it could still be foreseen.

Because of the onset of cold, the townspeople began to use more coal for heating than usual. At about the same time, the process of replacing urban electric transport, that is, trams, with buses with a diesel engine, was completed. Trapped in a heavier layer of cold air, combustion products reached an extreme concentration in a matter of hours.

The fog was so thick that it obstructed the movement of cars - nothing was visible. Concerts were canceled, and film screenings were canceled as smog easily entered the premises. Spectators sometimes simply did not see the stage or screen due to the dense curtain.

At first, the reaction of the townspeople was calm, since fogs are not uncommon in London. In the weeks that followed, however, statistics compiled by the city's medical services revealed the deadly nature of the disaster - the number of deaths among infants, the elderly and those suffering from respiratory diseases reached four thousand people. About eight thousand more people died from the effects of the Great Smog in the following weeks and months.

The shock of this brutal lesson made people change their minds about air pollution. The natural disaster has demonstrated to people around the world that the problem poses an immediate threat to human life. New environmental standards have been adopted to limit the use of dirty fuels in industry and to ban soot-containing exhaust gases.

Interestingly, literally a hundred years earlier, another disaster forced the British Parliament to take care of the construction of a modern water supply and sewerage system. Before that, water for drinking and washing was taken from the Thames. And into the same Thames all that is, household and industrial waste was poured.

As a result, in 1858, the so-called "Great Stench" reigned in London, forcing a rich "stratum" of residents to flee the city for a while. Due to the lack of clean water and an isolated sewerage system, cholera epidemics broke out several times in the city, until appropriate legislative measures were taken in the 1860s after a new epidemic.

And two centuries earlier, the British capital was shaken by another disaster. Despite the fact that she did not have an ecological background, she had a huge impact on the entire subsequent development of the capital and also entered the list of the greats. This is the Great Fire of London, which lasted for four days, from 2 to 5 September 1666. The fire threatened the aristocratic Westminster (present-day West End), Whitehall Palace and most of the suburban slums.

The fire burned down 13,500 houses, 87 parish churches (even St. Paul's Cathedral), most of the government buildings. The fire is believed to have robbed 70,000 people of their homes, compared to the then central London population of just 80,000. It is not known exactly how many people died in the fire, there is information about only a few victims, but many victims simply were not recorded.

A fire started at a certain Thomas Farriner's bakery on Pudding Lane after midnight on Sunday 2nd September. The fire began to spread rapidly through the city in a westerly direction. Firefighters of the time, as a rule, used the method of destroying buildings around the fire in order to keep the fire from spreading.

Even at the dawn of technical progress, during the heyday of heavy industry, England became one of the dirtiest countries in Europe. Coal mining areas covered in black dust, London smog - it was in fact the hallmark of the British Isles.

It was only in the 1950s and 60s that the situation began to change after the adoption of laws banning industrial emissions into the atmosphere. In the 1980s, the green movement gained popularity against the backdrop of a deep economic and political crisis. Almost all parties included green items in their election programs.

However, the ecology in the UK is still not entirely exemplary, and the country itself is still far from being the cleanest country in the European Union. Most Britons are concerned about environmental issues, but not all are eager to put them into practice. Although smoke emissions have fallen by 85 percent since 1960, many believe the government does not adequately control violators. They can get off with minor fines, or even circumvent the law altogether. There is also insufficient pressure on industrial plants to modernize their existing wastewater treatment plants, on oil companies with rigs in the North Sea, on agriculture that uses toxic fertilizers and pesticides.

Most of the power plants in the UK are thermal, i.e. working on combustible fuel. At one time, the categorical disapproval of the inhabitants of the islands stopped the construction of nuclear power plants. There is still a debate about the safety of nuclear power. In the meantime, projects are being developed to use natural resources to generate energy. Climatic conditions are not conducive to the construction of solar power plants, but the University of Liverpool has developed an interesting hybrid - a wind turbine, the blades of which are covered with solar panels. Unfortunately, in the UK itself, the number of sunny days is not enough to take full advantage of the Heat Waver technology (as the developers called their brainchild), but Australia, Spain, Italy and Morocco are already interested in it.

The British company Aquamarine Power Ltd has proposed another eco-project for the use of natural resources. She began construction of a wave power plant off the coast of Scotland. The ebb and flow is a powerful natural force. Why not use it for the benefit of man? In 2018, the world's most powerful wave power plant will start operating on the coast of Lewis Island, part of the Hebrides archipelago. It will consist of 50 Oyster turbines that pump water and pressurize the hydroelectric plant on the shore. The sea in this region is restless almost all year round, so such a power plant will be able to operate practically continuously.

And while the UK awaits clean energy from the power plant, the British continue to seek alternatives to combustible fuels that pollute the atmosphere. After all, vehicles powered by biofuels, electricity, hydrogen and compressed air, although not so common, are no longer surprising. However, even using them does not save the atmosphere from carbon dioxide. And so the British research company Air Fuel Synthesis made a sensational statement - they managed to develop a fuel based on water and carbon dioxide. A pilot plant, designed by the company's engineers, was able to produce 5 liters of fuel suitable for use in an internal combustion engine in a few days. The production process is based on the collection of carbon dioxide from the air and subsequent electrolysis. According to a press release from Air Fuel Synthesis, after the launch of full-scale factory production, the fuel output will be about a ton per day, and its cost will be approximately at the level of gasoline. While skeptics doubt, construction of the plant has already begun.

The London authorities are fighting the greenhouse effect in their own way. The work is carried out in several directions. For example, since 2012, the ClimateCars taxi service has appeared on the streets of the city, consisting only of electric vehicles.

The unmanned electric taxi ULTra runs at Heathrow Airport, linking terminals, runways and huge parking lots. Double-decker buses, traditional for London, are gradually being replaced by new models that are more environmentally friendly and economical. They consume 40% less fuel than the previous ones, and, accordingly, less pollute the air in London.

The Mayor of the city Boris Johnson fully supports projects aimed at improving the environment. He switched from car to bike and plans to turn London into "Little Holland".

On his initiative, about one and a half billion dollars were allocated for the development of bicycle infrastructure in London. Construction of special safest bike paths covering the entire city with a network, bike parking near every building, and even a unique bicycle bridge, 24 km long, which will connect the city center and West London, is underway.

Another initiative of the London authorities is cooperation with British Airways. London trash will now be converted to biofuel. Two parallel programs - the project to reduce the landfills surrounding London and the project to halve the carbon dioxide emissions of all British Airways operating cycles by 2050 - have now merged. The airline has signed a garbage collection agreement with the mayor's office. Already in 2015, it is planned to launch a plant for processing waste into biofuel. And the London authorities undertake to regularly supply raw materials and even pay extra for its disposal. Everyone will benefit, first of all the residents of London - they will get a cleaner city and cleaner air.

Thus, the ecology of Great Britain can already in many ways be an example to follow.

Naturally, cities, from the point of view of environmental protection, are mostly viewed as a dangerous ecological object due to the fact that the city accumulates material and human resources, and this contributes to the growth of industrial production, which, of course, entails an increase industrial and domestic waste, an increase in air pollution from vehicles and general pollution of the surrounding areas.

Based on this, it can be argued that the ecology of the city negatively affects the ecology of the environment of the region in which it is located.

Negative changes in the ecological situation ultimately lead to a deterioration in the quality of life of urban residents, affecting almost all aspects of their life. The global deterioration of the ecological situation in cities leads to many serious social problems, including a decrease in life expectancy and the period of active activity of urban residents, an increase in morbidity and mortality, a deterioration in mental and social health, which is reflected in the widespread occurrence of various forms of deviant behavior (drug addiction , alcoholism, etc.), the growth of delinquency, etc. ...

The urgency of the problem... In large cities, depending on the specific natural conditions, the development of certain industries, the features of buildings, landscaping, etc. a certain socio-ecological situation is taking shape. The study and analysis of which must be carried out in every city where the most significant changes in the state of landscape-technogenic systems take place. Such studies are still being carried out in most cities at an insufficiently high level, which is an obstacle to the development of effective mechanisms for optimizing the state of urban areas, solving social and environmental problems of their development.

Subject of study: Socio-ecological problems of cities .

The purpose of this work is the study of social and environmental problems in cities on the example of London and Moscow. The purpose of the work determined the implementation of the following tasks: