SMOG IN OUR COUNTRY

smog, community-wide polluted air. Its composition is variable. The term is derived from the words smoke and fog, but it is commonly used to describe the pall of automotive or industrial origin that lies over many cities. The term was probably first used in 1905 by H.A. Des Voeux to describe atmospheric conditions over many British towns. It was popularized in 1911 by Des Voeux’s report to the Manchester Conference of the Smoke Abatement League of Great Britain on the more than 1,000 “smoke-fog” deaths that occurred in Glasgow and Edinburgh during the autumn of 1909.

At least two distinct types of smog are recognized: sulfurous smog and photochemical smog. Sulfurous smog, which is also called “London smog,” results from a high concentration of sulfur oxides in the air and is caused by the use of sulfur-bearing fossil fuels, particularly coal. This type of smog is aggravated by dampness and a high concentration of suspended particulate matter in the air. Smoglike air pollution trapped higher in the atmosphere can persist as atmospheric brown clouds, which can cause climatic and health effects. See also Asian brown cloud.

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Learn how pollution from industrial emissions and car exhaust is trapped against mountains to cause smogSmog formation and entrapment over Los Angeles.(more)

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Los Angeles smogSmog over Los Angeles, 2019.