London reaches air pollution limit for 2018 before end of January
London reached legal air pollution limits for the whole of 2018 at the end of January Tweet This!, data shows.
Brixton Road, in Lambeth, seems to be London’s most polluted street: levels of pollutant nitrogen dioxide exceeded average hourly limits 18 times thus far, this year.
Environmental groups demand that the Government takes immediate action, not least by creating and funding clean air zones in the worst affected areas. According to Oliver Hayes (Friends of the Earth), “the frequency and severity of these pollution spikes shows we’ve still got a long way to go in cleaning up our air, despite some good initiatives by the Mayor”.
Additionally, beyond London, 85% of areas across the UK continue to break air quality rules that should have been achieved in 2010.
Most importantly, air pollution is connected to the early deaths of approximately 40,000 people every year in the UK, and causes problems like asthma and heart or lung diseases.
Mel Evans, clean air campaigner at Greenpeace, said that the Government “could make a real difference very quickly by replicating London’s evidence-led approach across the country” and called for funding for local authorities to create clean air zones.
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