This weather: Cloud or smog?

[ska invita]

THe last few days has seen the first warmish weather in London, and right on cue the sky disappears to be replaced with this hazy, blurry something or other - this is pretty much what summer in London is like all the way through.

Go and have a look out across London from a high point and you can barely see canary wharf and the like, as they disapear into this fuzzy cloud like stuff.

What I want to know is, is it a naturally occuring, cloud like thing or is it pollution and smog? If it is naturally occuring then why does London get this kind of weather?

I heard that LA has such bad smog becasue for one reason or another there are no winds to clear it - the native americans never inhabited that spot because their campfires would end up smoking out the whole place. Is London similiar?

It seems London has always had this kind of weather - here's Monet paintings of London
http://www.tamsquare.net/thumbnail/M/Claude-Monet-London-Houses-of-Parliament-at-Sunset-.jpg

http://www.globalgallery.com/prod_thumbs/s-cor-cs006855.jpg

...and heres some Turners

http://www.suite101.com/files/topics/16928/files/turner.jpg

http://www.redraggallery.co.uk/library/inventory/Nicholas_Turner_NT5-6.jpg

The thing is they painted it at a time when London was an industrial centre full of factories, so pollution was probably a big factor.

Can anyone explain it - is this the kind of weather London would have no matter what, and if so what is it? I'm sure some of it is pollution, but is it really all smog? If there were no cars, would today be properly sunny on a blue sky?

London smog:
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2005/06/smogPA230605_330x450.jpg

[lang rabbie]

The temperate climate of a river estuary with usually mild winds, combined with particulates from burning coal or the modern cocktail spewed from vehicle fumes is never a good combination.

... in his Fumifugium, published in 1661, John Evelyn wrote of the 'Hellish and dismall cloud of sea-coale' that lay over London and recommended that all noisome trades be banished from the city. The authorities did not, however, take his advice

[ska invita]

Hre's a picture I took the other day of our "sunny" weather:
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/1492/hatparty001av8.jpg

stiill, its not as bad as a sunny day in Beijing - poor fuckers:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e0/BeijingSmogComparison-Aug2005a.gif/800px-BeijingSmogComparison-Aug2005a.gif
This is a pair of photos taken in Beijing by me during a trip to the People's Republic of China in August 2005. I was in Beijing twice over a period of a week and a half, both times at the same hotel and in approximately the same room. The photo on the right was taken during a sunny, otherwise clear day on my first visit. The photo on the left was on my second visit, after it had rained for approximately 2 days. Both of these photos were taken in the morning around the 07:00-08:00 hour. The difference is staggering, I can say that during the day that I took the second photo the air made walking around (and I did for miles) rather difficult.



And heres a bit about London smog

London has been known for smog since Roman times. In 1273, concerns over air pollution were sufficient for Edward I to (briefly) ban coal fires in London. In 1661, John Evelyn's Fumifugium suggested burning fragrant wood instead of mineral coal, which he believed would reduce coughing. The Ballad of Gresham College the same year describes how the smoke "does our lungs and spirits choke, Our hanging spoil, and rust our iron."

Severe episodes of smog continued in the 19th century and were nicknamed "pea-soupers". The Great Smog of 1952 darkened the streets of London and killed approximately 4,000 people in the short term (a further 8,000 died from its effects in the following weeks and months). Initially a flu epidemic was blamed for the loss of life. In 1956 the Clean Air Act introduced smokeless zones in the capital. Consequently, reduced sulphur dioxide levels made the intense and persistent London smog a thing of the past. It was after this the great clean-up of London began and buildings recovered their original stone façades which, during two centuries, had gradually blackened. Smog caused by traffic pollution, however, does occur in modern London.

[Tom A]

Maybe it's chemtrails :eek: :p

*dons tin foil hat and looks for black helicopters*

[Minnie_the_Minx]

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g66/Zed_01/Singapore/Hazefromcablecar.jpg

Haze in Singapore from the forest fires in Indonesia

(taken last year from the cable car)

[ska invita]

smog seems to have lifted - today was beautiful - must have been the breeze.

Talking about the weather on the internet - pretty sad.

Still, how good is this?:
http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/5947/weatherjc5.png