Human consequences
Hospitals are overwhelmed with respiratory patients; buses run behind guides walking ahead with torches.
Home › All disasters › Great Smog of London
IndustrialGreat Smog of London
12,000Deaths
Not quantifiedDisplaced / homeless
Not quantifiedEstimated cost
- 4,000 deaths counted at the time; modern reassessments put the real toll at around 10,000 to 12,000.
An anticyclone traps the smoke from coal stoves and power stations over London. For five days a yellowish, acidic fog cuts visibility to a few metres.
Consequences
Environmental consequences
Particulates and sulphur dioxide reach extreme concentrations.
Economic consequences
Transport is paralysed and activity almost stops for several days.
Political consequences
It leads to the Clean Air Act of 1956, one of the first major laws against air pollution.
Further reading
Similar disasters
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- Bhopal disasterIndustrial · India1984
In the rankings : The worst industrial and nuclear disasters No. 1
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