On average you’ll breathe between 750 and 1,200 times an hour. It’s something that we all do without usually realising it. Breathing clean air is crucial for our health yet poor air quality has been a feature of daily life for many people past and present, and represents one of the largest environmental risks to public health.
In this latest chapter of Was the Past More Sustainable? Dr Kathy Davies examines historic moves to improve air quality in Britain. "Breathing Clean Air" spotlights local and national campaigning and the development and impact of clean air policies. But how does history help us plan healthier, safer, more sustainable futures?
43,000 deaths a year are linked to air pollution in the UK. Sulphur dioxide levels have dropped by 97% since 1970, reflecting a decrease in coal burning in homes and in industry, but the problem of dirty air persists.
Historically, coal smoke visibly bellowed from domestic and industrial chimneys permeating its surroundings in a tangibly acrid way. Now, different sources and dominant pollutants contaminate our everyday indoor and outdoor environments.
‘Breathing Clean Air’ begins by addressing the early history of smoke abatement and pollution politics to highlight the shift in public focus from industrial chimneys to ‘the Englishman’s fireside’. The connection between public health debates and interwar housing developments is especially important here. The chapter then unpacks milestone national events and legislation: the London Smog 1952 and Clean Air Act 1956.
Two local case studies, Coventry (1948-1951) and Sheffield (1951-1972), demonstrate the role of local power within the national context and the place-based factors that shape the realities of implementing environmental policy. Finally, the chapter illuminates the role that commercial interests can play in ‘clean air’ when agendas align, for example the role of the gas industry and its expanding domestic markets from the 1970s onward. The chapter concludes with reflections on how approaches to the age-old problem of poor air quality can embolden and benefit initiatives today.
Was the Past More Sustainable?
Across a series of instalments, Was the Past More Sustainable? explores whether key aspects of our daily lives have become more or less damaging to the environment over time. The project presents analysis of how home heating, air quality, the disposal of waste and the way we move around have evolved over time, delving back hundreds of years in some cases. Through this research, the team combines analysis of historic datasets and archival findings with original empirical insights to build a rich, multifaceted debate, centred around the question: was the past more sustainable?
