London’s toxic air and how excessive diesel emissions are making it worse

Read any book about Victorian London and it’ll likely mention the smog that enveloped one of the greatest cities in the world. The Great smog of 1952 choked residents, halted business and killed animals. You would think that with the drastic increase in technological development, we would be living in a world free of air pollution, and with companies like Volkswagen promising “Clean Diesel” technology, we were hopeful of a better future.

That was until we realised their ‘eco-friendly’ vehicles were far more harmful than people thought.

Today, air pollution is still a major concern for Londoners with the capital being densely packed with 8.6 million inhabitants. Compared to the average of 1,010 people per square mile in the rest of the country, London has an incredible 13,410 people per square mile. The bustling city is cramped with high-rise buildings and traffic – lots of traffic.

With such a high density of people, pollution is a major problem.

The severity of the problem

The government produced a map as a visual representation of just how bad air pollution is in the capital. The surrounding area is coloured in a soft pale yellow, and as your work your way in, the saturation increases until you reach the angry red in the very centre. Representative of a critical point, London is in a grave state where air pollution is literally killing people.

The map is accompanied with some harrowing statistics. Harmful pollutants in the form of superfine particles are being inhaled at high concentrations, exacerbating and causing heart and respiratory problems. Children exposed to such pollution are “much more likely to suffer reduced lung function and asthma,” warns the report.

London Major Sadiq Khan presented the report and its findings at the Every Journey, Every Child conference, airing his disappointment over the findings as:

“…another damning indictment of the toxic air that all Londoners are forced to breathe every day.”

He says we “should be ashamed” that people are exposed to the toxic dust that is shortening life expectancy. Findings in the report showed that 29,000 people reportedly die prematurely in the U.K. every year because of air pollution.

And the biggest culprit?

The report blames road transport as the “biggest contributor” to air pollution in London, accounting for more than half of all local contributions to toxic air. With 1.2 million Volkswagen group vehicles spewing out excessive NOx pollution, some scientists suggest there are deaths attributable to the higher-than-expected NOx emissions at the centre of the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal.

This is just one of many crucial reasons as to why we’re bringing our action against VW. When experts claim there are people literally dying from excessive NOx, the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal is far more than the annoyance of a so-called “fix” and the problems the “fix” may be causing to vehicles.

The Car Emissions Lawyers condemn Volkswagen’s actions that have seen their supposedly “clean diesel” vehicles churning out far more NOx than regulators were led to believe.