Fine Dust Particles: The Great Smog of Seoul


How Dangerous is the Fine Dust Situation in Korea, and How Worse Can it Be?


The Great Smog of London
Image result for the great smog of london
The Great Smog of London

Before we dive deep into this crisis of Korea, let's look at a milder example that happened in London for a few days during December of 1952. The Great Smog of London was a very significant issue back in the days when air pollution was very severe. This lasted for five very cold days in the middle of winter.

The smog is very harmful, killing 4,000 people at that time. Research states that this smog effect was very harmful towards the human respiratory system. It is estimated that 6,000 more people died in the aftermath of the smog due to this biological disaster.

The cause of the smog was the continuous burning of coal. According to Wikipedia, the burning of low-grade coal caused "1,000 tonnes of smoke particles, 140 tonnes of hydrochloric acid, 14 tonnes of fluorine compounds, and 370 tonnes of sulfur dioxide which may have been converted to 800 tonnes of sulphuric acid" to be exposed in the air. 

Image result for 한국 미세먼지 심각성
The Great Smog of Seoul
Meanwhile, in the Great Smog of Seoul, the micro-dust effect is caused by air pollution in China.
According to some research, many say that the cause in China is very similar to the cause of The Great Smog of London, which was the usage of burning coal. Due to this, and the blowing of the western winds, the air quality is being shared with South Korea.

Similar to the smog in London, this air causes the same effects to the human body:

"fine dust affects not only the respiratory system, but also blood vessels, heart, is implicated with brain disease, and dementia… it will also harm children and pregnant women."






Related image
Comparison of Fine Dust Particle
Concentration Over the World

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Smog_of_London

https://www.voanews.com/a/south-korea-air-pollution/4764898.html

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