Since the turn of the century, we have burned half of all the coal ever burned.
... In the last 25 years, the world has burned as much coal as it did in the preceding 200 years.
However, as the Third Industrial Revolution began, people became adamant that 'First World' cities should not have to deal with coal smoke.
But it had all started out so well ...
Cheap, energy-dense, portable coal provided the power to lift even more coal from the mines, and to transport this coal to factories and mills for industrial use. Near the city, coal was split into 'town gas' for lighting, cooking and heating ... and coke for portable smokeless heat. In the city, coal generated the first electricity ... and pumped municipal water to enhance public health, sanitation and fire protection.
... Today, a brief whiff of coal's sulphurous combustion products brings back nostalgic childhood memories of Canadian railway steam excursions - for some of the people reading this blog.
The 'lost smells connoisseur' enjoys only that brief whiff of coal smoke because great efforts were made over decades to make cities healthier for people to live in.
... For the sake of everyone's health, coal had to go.
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A visitor to this blog was kind enough to write to me to mention that the visit of the 'Smoke Committee' of the Ontario Legislature to Montreal in 1956 in the previous post ...
CNR 1942 Smoke at Turcot; 1956 Smoke Committee Visits Montreal
... was likely influenced by the London fog disaster of 1952 which resulted in 4000 deaths and the Clean Air Act (UK) of 1956. In particular, he mentioned that the now-familiar PM 2.5 and sulphur dioxide in the polluted fog were the key villains of that story.
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After a week of wondering, I finally broke down and checked ...
The London Fog brand name was first used in 1954.
It was created by the Londontown Manufacturing Company of Baltimore, Maryland.
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The Montreal Gazette published this short item on the third day of the London disaster.
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| from: Montreal Gazette; 8 December 1952; Google Newspapers. |
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This account from 1976 is concise and explains the role weather played.
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| from: British Weather Disasters; Ingrid Holford; 1976; David & Charles. archive.org |
By chance, the map shows the weather pattern on the same date as the story in the Gazette above.
The combination of smoke and fog describes London's atmosphere precisely. I think the term must have been coined in Britain.
However, you'll soon see that Los Angeles was already using the term smog for its own particular brand of photochemical soup - held in place by mountains and a temperature inversions - back in 1949.
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1952
It sounded as if there was a recurrence of the phenomenon in late December as this British MP was seeking international help to make his case about the pollution. As the story suggests, cheap, portable coal was used widely for home heating. Households were significant contributors to the poisonous fog.
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| from: Evening Citizen (Ottawa); 29 December 1952; Google newspapers. |
In Donora, Pennsylvania it was local industrial sources of hydrogen fluoride, nitrogen dioxide, and sulphur dioxide - combined with an inversion - which killed 20 and contributed to the death of 50 others in the month which followed.
The industries admitted no responsibility, stating that it was a freak weather condition or an Act of God which caused the disaster.
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Trying to give you a break from too much reading, it took some time for me to find a good photograph to illustrate a concentration of coal smoke with whatever was generating it. Who wants to take and promote photos clouded by smoke and fog? Couldn't you get there on a clear day?
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| from: Great Western Engine Sheds 1947; ET Lyons; 1972; Oxford Publishing. |
Severn Tunnel Junction, circa 1947.
The building to the left is a 'coal stage'.
There seem to be two chutes for loading coal into tenders on this side.
Fires are probably cleaned into that space between the engines and that nearby line of cars.
The ashes are then shovelled by hand into the cars.
Today, I think this site is a parking lot.
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January 1953 ...
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| from: Calgary Herald; 23 January 1953; Google Newspapers. |
In the AP wire copy above, the tragic fatality statistics are followed by compassion for airlines' corporate finances. From reading quite a few clippings, I believe the London 'pea-soup fogs' term described both their opaqueness and their sickening colouring.
In addition to being expensive ... the wartime FIDO system mentioned in the article would have added to the pollution ...
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| from back cover of: Flying Through Fire; Geoffrey Williams; 1995; Grange. |
FIDO stood for Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation. In the photo above, an operator can be seen at the valve system which controlled the flow of gasoline through the perforated piping installed along the runways. Starting these burners was often achieved by a serviceman on a bicycle holding a burning torch down into the gasoline streams as he rode.
The tempo of night bombing operations in the second half of the war was very demanding on aircraft and aircrew. Often a 'Maximum Effort' was demanded by Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris. Canadian RCAF bomber personnel were distributed in mixed-nationality crews and all were under the orders of RAF Bomber Command. In order to staff the force quickly, RAF bomber aircraft only had a single pilot and control yoke, with a flight engineer nearby to assist him.
The difficulty in predicting the future weather conditions for the bombers (returning from 8 hour missions, give or take a few hours) initially resulted in needless loss of life and aircraft. Generally, weather conditions over the target area were always the main focus - not the future weather at the many originating airfields.
Before FIDO, if the entire coast was found to be fogbound when returning, or aircraft were damaged and short of fuel and could not find an alternate fogless field ... the procedure was to have the crew bail out and to abandon the aircraft to crash. As crew members onboard were often injured, or crew could be killed or drowned when parachuting blind into the fog, an alternative to save these valuable and scarce wartime resources was necessary.
Although runway-length troughs of coal and coke were tried, gasoline - often pumped from the airfield's existing refueling tanks - worked best to 'burn off' fog from an airfield. FIDO was eventually installed at 14 RAF stations (airfields) near the English Channel.
... When approaching a fogbound FIDO-equipped runway ... an orange glow would be seen through the clouds. Closer to landing, a strange tunnel would appear through the fog - with low walls of flame on both sides. Turbulence from the fires added to the challenge of the landing made by a fatigued pilot.
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From London, back in 1893 ...
The conditions experienced in 1952 were understood
while Queen Victoria was still on the throne.
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| from: Lewiston [Maine, USA] Journal; 15 May 1893; Google Newspapers. |
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Los Angeles uses the term 'smog' in 1949 ...
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| from: Toledo Blade; 27 December 1949; Google Newspapers. |
Beyond most of our imaginations, with our significant quantities of plastic garbage and modern municipal services, backyard household incinerators were common in Los Angeles. I am guessing that only private junk and garbage hauling services were available back then.
Just as London eventually eliminated urban household heating by coal, Los Angeles moved decisively to eliminate these backyard incinerators.
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1947 in Pittsburgh ...
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| from: Pittsburgh Press; 26 September 1947. Google Newspapers. |
The last sentence reads: The Smoky City is on its way to becoming the Smokeless City.
end
