The 1948 Donora smog killed 20 people and caused respiratory problems for 6,000 of the 14,000 people living in Donora, Pennsylvania, a mill town on the Monongahela River 24 miles (39 km) southeast of Pittsburgh. The event is commemorated by the Donora Smog Museum.
How did the Donora smog happen?
Beginning sometime on October 26, weather conditions in the valley brought a heavy fog into Donora. This fog appears to have trapped the airborne pollutants emitted from the zinc smelting plant and steel mills close to the ground, where they were inhaled by the local residents.
What is the problem in the Donora case?
Under normal circumstances, this phenomenon means that cool air is trapped at ground level by a higher layer of warm air. What happened in Donora, however, is that the inversion also trapped toxic gasses at ground level, causing indoor air quality in the town to plunge to dangerously poor levels.
What happened in Donora Pennsylvania?
At the end of October 1948, the communities of Donora and Webster in Pennsylvania were visited by a smog that changed the face of environmental protection in the United States. Conservative estimates showed that 20 individuals died, while an additional 5900—43% of the population of Donora—were affected by the smog.
What caused the Donora Death fog of 1948?
The smog was caused by the zinc melting plant, Zinc Works, from their effluent containing substantial amounts of fluoride and a temperature inversion that trapped the effluent over the town.
What was the Donora killer smog?
The 1948 Donora smog killed 20 people and caused respiratory problems for 6,000 of the 14,000 people living in Donora, Pennsylvania, a mill town on the Monongahela River 24 miles (39 km) southeast of Pittsburgh. The event is commemorated by the Donora Smog Museum.
How many people died in 1952 fog?
4,000 people
About 4,000 people were known to have died as a result of the fog, but it could be many more. Press reports claimed cattle at Smithfield had been asphyxiated by the smog.
How did London solve smog?
Slow to act at first, the British government ultimately passed the Clean Air Act four years later, in 1956, as a direct response to the lethal fog. The act established smoke-free areas throughout the city and restricted the burning of coal in domestic fires as well as in industrial furnaces.
How did London fix the smog?
Following a government investigation, however, Parliament passed the Clean Air Act of 1956, which restricted the burning of coal in urban areas and authorized local councils to set up smoke-free zones. Homeowners received grants to convert from coal to alternative heating systems.
What was the main source of pollution for the Donora fluoride smog disaster?
The Donora incident, which killed 20 and left hundreds seriously injured and dying, was caused by fluoride emissions from the Donora Zinc Works and steel plants owned by the US Steel Corporation.
Which 2 cities had significant air pollution that hundreds to thousands died?
The Deadly Donora Smog of 1948 Spurred Environmental Protection—But Have We Forgotten the Lesson? The yellow fog arrived five days before Halloween in 1948, swaddling the Pennsylvania city of Donora and the nearby village of Webster in a nearly impenetrable haze.
When was the last big smog in London?
December 1952
The Great Smog of London, or Great Smog of 1952, was a severe air pollution event that affected London, England, in December 1952.
Great Smog of London.
| Date | 5–9 December 1952 |
| Location | London, England |
| Coordinates | 51.507°N 0.127°W |
| Casualties | |
|---|---|
| 4,000 killed · 100,000 injured (1952 government estimate) 10,000–12,000 killed (modern estimates) |
Did Winston Churchill go to the hospital during the smog?
Only when Churchill himself visited the hospitals to see the thousands of people impacted by the smog that the severity of the situation was acknowledged and immediate action was taken.
Who famous died in 1952?
Date of Death between 1952-01-01 and 1952-12-31 (Sorted by Popularity Ascending)
- Curly Howard. Actor | No Dough Boys.
- Hattie McDaniel. Actress | Gone with the Wind.
- John Garfield. Actor | Four Daughters.
- Leslie Banks. Actor | The Most Dangerous Game.
- Susan Peters. Actress | Random Harvest.
- Eva Perón.
- Basil Radford.
- Dixie Lee.
What was the killer fog made of?
Study lead author Renyi Zhang, an atmospheric scientist at Texas A&M University, said that sulfate was a big contributor to the deadly London fog. Sulfuric acid particles, which formed from the sulfur dioxide that was released from the burning of coal, were also a component of the fog.
Did the Queen really walk in the smog?
Yes, fact-checking The Crown confirms that the Great Smog was indeed a real event in 1952.
How many animals died in the Great Smog of London?
The Great Smog, which blanketed the British capital for five days in December 1952, is estimated by some experts to have killed more than 12,000 people and hospitalized 150,000. Thousands of animals also died.
Does London still get smog?
But 65 years on from the toxic Great Smog of London that descended on 5 December 1952, and led to ground-breaking anti-pollution laws being passed, the air above the UK still hasn’t cleared.
Can Great smog happen again?
After the great smog of 1952 another event did happen around ten years later in 1962, but it wasn’t as bad as the 1952 event. And after this event coal fires were totally banned from London and more precautionary measures were taken so this would never happen again.
What is London smog called?
Sulfurous smog
Sulfurous smog (London smog)
This type of air pollution emerges as a result of burning coal, the accumulation of particulate matter from industrial activity and a drop in temperature. The polluting particles mix with the cold air to form a thick fog that significantly worsens overall air quality.
Who was responsible for the Great Smog of London?
London’s reliance on coal-fired power plants for electricity and heat, and diesel-powered buses for public transportation, contributed to the Great Smog. London’s weather also contributed to the Great Smog. The city is contained in a large river valley, limiting air circulation.