This Podcast Will Kill You Ep 185 The Great Smog of London: “Thick, drab, yellow, disgusting”
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Aug 19, 2025 Dive into the eerie tale of the Great Smog of London in 1952, a thick, suffocating fog that caused chaos and distress. Discover how a mix of coal burning and weather patterns led to an environmental disaster, with thousands falling ill amidst denial from authorities. Explore the human stories behind the smog's impact and the shocking mortality rates that followed. Finally, learn how this calamity spurred significant changes in air quality regulations, highlighting ongoing lessons on pollution and public health.
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Frontline Doctor's Harrowing Account
- Dr. Donald Acheson described wards filling with gasping middle-aged and elderly patients and basins blackened by smuts during the Great Smog.
- He recalled ambulances stretched thin and mortuary space exhausted, showing frontline medical chaos.
Modern Yellow Sky Memory
- Erin Allmann-Updyke recounted a 2012 China experience waking to a yellow sky and canceled sample work, resembling London smog.
- The personal memory linked modern smog events to the historical London pea-souper imagery.
Historic Coal Smoke Created Distinct Brown Smog
- London's long history of coal burning produced a distinct brownish, choking smog that left soot on cloth and surfaces.
- Meteorology plus coal smoke created pea-souper fogs that repeatedly produced severe local pollution episodes.
