Greenhouse gas emissions

Urban background NO2 pollution has reduced both in the long-term and in recent years

Do we want to build a cleaner environment for future generations?

It is estimated that there are around 40,000 excess deaths every year as a result of air pollution. Many of these are older people, but some of them are children. The effects of air pollution on children’s physical development continue throughout their life, with a cost to the NHS estimated at £20 billion. Some of you may be aware of the sad case of little Ella Kissi-Debrah from south London who died following an asthma attack. The post-mortem revealed the shocking state of her lungs. Her mother is now working to get air pollution accepted as a cause of her death and was recently granted a new inquest.

Extract from UK Parliament.  Children’s Health: Vehicle Emissions - Volume 798: debated on Tuesday 11 June 2019.

SMOG

Some may still remember the air pollution that reduced visibility in and around cities or industrial areas: SMOG.  The term "smog" was first used in the early 1900s to describe a mix of smoke and fog.  The smoke usually came from burning coal.  However, today, most of the smog we see is photochemical smog.  Photochemical smog is produced when sunlight reacts with nitrogen oxides (See Note 1) (NOx) and at least one volatile organic compound (VOC) in the atmosphere:

Nitrogen oxides is a product produced from car exhaust, coal power plants, and factory emissions.

VOCs are released from gasoline, paints, and many cleaning solvents.

When sunlight hits these chemicals, they form airborne particles and ground-level ozone—or smog.

Ozone can be either helpful or harmful.  The ozone layer high up in the atmosphere protects us from the sun’s dangerous ultraviolet radiation.  However, ground-level Ozone is a gas which is damaging to human health and can trigger inflammation of the respiratory tract, eyes, nose and throat as well as asthma attacks.  Moreover, ozone can have adverse effects on the environment through oxidative damage to vegetation including crops.

Montreal Protocol

As a former associate of the Montreal Protocol Team, the UK government supported our work to stop the production on CFC.  The production of CFC ceased in 1995.  However, HCFC production will not cease for HCFC-22 until 2020 and for HCFC-123 until 2030.

Further Background Information.  The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was first signed in 1987.  It was a landmark in environmental policy-making because it was designed on the basis of scientific evidence, to prevent rather than cure a global problem.  The Protocol controls both the production and consumption of the various ozone depleting substances.  In 1990, at the second meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in London, the 80 countries present agreed that the production and consumption of CFCs and halons should be phased out by the year 2000 in developed countries.  The London meeting also established a Multilateral Fund to provide financial assistance to developing countries to meet the cost of phase out.  The United Kingdom, along with the other members of the European Union, has implemented the Montreal Protocol through an EC Regulation, which is directly applicable in UK law.

To build a better future and cleaner environment, the Government is correct in taking the lead, once again, with a view of reducing levels of NoX by 2030.

1.  When nitrogen is released during fuel combustion it combines with oxygen atoms to create nitric oxide (NO).  This further combines with oxygen to create nitrogen dioxide (NO2).  Nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide are referred to together as oxides of nitrogen (NOx).