London's Great Smog carries lessons for Beijing
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E-mail Xinhua, January 21, 2013
FIRST GREEN LEGISLATION
Government reaction to the Great Smog was slow, but public concern and action by legislators eventually led to new laws.
The Clean Air Acts of 1956 and 1968 were introduced to deal with the smogs.
The Acts gave local authorities powers to control emissions of dark smoke, grit, dust and fumes from industrial premises and furnaces and to declare smoke control areas in which emissions of smoke from domestic properties were banned.
Since then, smoke control areas have been introduced in many large towns and cities across Britain.
The implementation of smoke control areas, the increased popularity of natural gas and the changes in the industrial and economic structure of the UK led to a substantial reduction in concentrations of smoke and associated levels of sulphur dioxide between the 1950s and the present day.
These Acts, together with other associated clean air legislation, were repealed and consolidated by the Clean Air Act in 1993 which provides the current legislative controls.
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