Air Pollution and concern about air quality are not new. Complaints were recorded in the 13th century when coal was first used in London. Since the middle of the 19th century, the atmosphere of the major British cities was regularly polluted by coal smoke in winter, giving rise to an infamous mixture of fog and smoke known as smog. Today the emphasis has shifted from the pollution problems caused by industry to the ones associated with motor vehicle emissions.
Click Bart Simpson (left) for the easy-to-read young person's text and Mr. Burns (right) for the more technical information.