To think the air pollution issue in London is frightening?

[MrsOverTheRoad]

I feel worried about all my friends and family there. :(

www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/27/london-issues-red-alert-for-extremely-high-air-pollution?CMP=fb_gu

[endofthelinefinally]

Yes.
5 minutes walk from my house the air pollution is 5 x the EU safe level.
I suppose nobody will care after brexit.
Even so, yet another block of flats is being built right on the junction/roundabout of 5 roads just where the air quality was measured.
There are 2 primary schools within a 5 minute walk too.

[MrsOverTheRoad]

Will people start wearing face masks soon? What's the cause of it in London? I sound ignorant but is it mainly cars?

[Shoxfordian]

I live and work in London and I'm not worried

[MrsOverTheRoad]

Really? Don't you find it's affecting you at all? My friend said she's worried and she's thinking of sellling up and moving as she's asthmatic and doesn't want to get worse in her old age.

[Shoxfordian]

No; I feel fine

I think a lot of the reporting is over the top and just scaremongering really.

[Callamia]

I think it's unnecessary. I have asthma, but my asthma is better in the city than anywhere else. My son has possible asthma, and I feel terrible about living near main roads, and having him attend a school near a main road. It's really the main (only) reason I would consider moving out of London. Instead, I'll carry on campaigning for greener streets.

[Ttbb]

Yes, it's disgusting they really need to increase speed limits and introduce most charging points for electric cars.

[QuiQuaiQuod]

We live right by heathrow.

we developed breathing problems since being here.

its the planes more than anything.

MASSIVE air pollution by them (and they want another runway for more planes )?

Not to mention lorries, buses and trains.

but as always its cars that are in the wrong. yes they account for some of it, but,

cycle lanes (which ive never seen not one cyclist ever use) put more pressure on narrower roads for traffic, plus speed bumps. (no one ever thinks either that many people use cars because - disabled, elderly, etc)

for us, its the planes.

[WhatToDoAboutThis2017]

Do you suffer from anxiety OP?

[MrsOverTheRoad]

WhatToDoAboutThis No. Do you?

[MrsOverTheRoad]

I didn't consider planesQui but of course they must be responsible for a lot of the pollution. :(

It's ridiculous...one of the world's wealthiest and most beautiful cities and the air's shite. Something has to be done!

[WhatToDoAboutThis2017]

You don't live there, OP, but you're really worried about friends and family over this issue.

That screams massively to me that you have anxiety, and if you have it over something so small and unlikely to be a massive problem, you likely have it over a lot of other things too.

[forbiddenforest]

It's horrible. We're in zone 1, right next to a busy main road and I've really noticed increased pollution in the past few years (I've lived in London all my life). I'm glad Sadiq Khan is introducing the T charge and I think he will introduce other measures as well - as the son of a bus driver, he's really committed to public transport which is great. My own street is going to be closed to traffic soon, which I'm pleased about. I don't drive and most people I know here don't. It would feel like quite a selfish thing to do when there is such good public transport (most buses are low emission).

[Foniks]

It's really horrible. I've been looking at local nurseries recently, and have seen so many on such busy roads, with the outdoor area just separated by a bush or fence.
I'm sure I read somewhere a few years ago that London has a higher number of children with asthma too.
I definitely notice a difference in how I feel/breath when I'm out of London for a break.
This is tmi, but I remember my dad telling us to look at the difference in the tissue when we blow our noses in London vs out of London... it was black disgusting bogey in London! I'd never noticed or bothered looking til then, but just shows what we're breathing in all day in London.

[Bumshkawahwah]

I just checked the levels and it is really bad. I used to live in China, which has year round terrible air pollution and was used to checking the pm2.5 levels every day. London today has highs of 156. In China, if it got above 200, my children weren't allowed to play outside at break time. That was considered pretty bad.

Lots of children had asthma, lots of friends had chronic sinus and chest infections, plus there were worries about the effect on children who lived with this pollution and their lung development when they went into their teenage years. The thing is you can feel completely fine...but then be affected in the long term.

[specialsubject]

We are in the EU and nobody cares now - or not enough to drive less, stop using taxis (look at the bleating about uber) , stop heating or air conditioning shops with open doors, stop leaving lights on etc etc etc.

Cleaner air means fewer luxuries.

[ClaudiaWankleman]

It doesn't bother me at all. I've lived in cities where you can see and taste the pollution in the air.

You should be more worried about other things OP. While we still have vehicles, smokers and factories you won't be able to protect yourself from the air.

[KindergartenKop]

I noticed this this morning. It's quite hazy.

[ChardonnaysPrettySister]

It's bad and no politician seems to give a flying rat's arse about it.

[invisiblecats]

Air pollution kills and may well shorten your life.

If you're not worried about it, it's your choice - but it's based on ignorance.

FWIW I live in a polluted place. But I'm aware it's an issue, and I certainly wouldn't want to grow old here.

[IsadoraQuagmire]

Yes. I've lived in London my whole life. I nearly choke every time I go outside; the air is disgusting here and most of central London smells revolting.

[Standandwait]

It's really not noticeable to us, and all of us are asthmatic. But then we've actually lived in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai, where air pollution was far, far worse. London is the 25th most populous city in the world en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_proper_by_population
but only the 2516 most polluted city
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/12055618/How-does-Londons-air-pollution-compare-to-other-cities.html

Granted, any pollution is too much pollution, but honestly, where are all these people coming from who claim that when they blow their nose the result is black? We've been here 10 years and that's never happened to any of us.

So yes, I think the media exaggerate. And yet, I too think we need to cut pollution now before it gets worse.

[MrsOverTheRoad]

Stand well to be fair, my snot was always black when I lived in London. I lived there for ten years through the late 90s and into the 2000s.

[Standandwait]

Mrs, I wonder if the composition of the smog is changing?

I do remember being incredulous when we moved here that diesel vehicles were exempt from the congestion charge. Everyone who paid any attention already knew diesel particulates are the absolute worst for actual lungs, though they don't increase Nox and sulphers.

[namechangefordummies]

Another poster making something that doesn't affect them all about them with some tenuous connection.

ODFOD