The Lessons We Haven't Learned From London's Killer Fog of 1952

Way back in 1662, John Evelyn, a brilliant Englishman known for his detailed diaries, wrote a lament about the effects of coal-burning on the city of London. His work was called Fumifugium, or the Inconvenience of the Aer and Smoak of London Dissipated. In it, he described an infernal scene of pollution, air filled with "Columns and Clouds of Smoake" emitted by small industries and residences that burned coal for fuel:

I found this quotation in the 2003 book When Smoke Ran Like Water, by epidemiologist and environmental advocate Devra Davis. In it, Davis looks back at several historic pollution events and their disastrous effect on human health – and at how these phenomena were often ignored or even actively covered up by the people in charge at the time. The book is informed by a sad personal knowledge. Many members of Davis's family suffered lasting health effects from the 1948 killer smog in the steel town of Donora, Pennsylvania, which left at least 20 dead and dozens more injured.