Cleaning up London’s air – can it be done?

By Eddie Saint-Jean

I’m bit of a keep fit fanatic and It was while jogging along a main road on the way to my main destination, a local park, that I realised I was wheezing for no better reason than I was close to traffic. I had covered this journey many times before, the only difference being that this day the weather was particularly hot. Still that shouldn’t be a big deal. Notably, this was in the same week that The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs had warned the public against physical exertion and exercising outdoors because of a surge in pollution and pollen levels. I don’t suffer from hay fever so that leaves just one thing.

Poor air quality damages our health and our economy

By Lucette Davies

Air pollution caused the premature deaths of 7m people worldwide in 2012 (World Health Organisation estimate).

In the UK it is estimated that air pollution costs our economy £16bn / year, more than the £13.7bn / year that we spend because of smoking.

But where does air pollution come from and why is it such a dangerous and expensive aspect of our environment?