| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Air pollution on Chiswick High Road | |
| Posted by: | Andrew OSullivan | |
| Date/Time: | 05/11/15 09:31:00 |
| 'The health issues caused by exposure to pollution as I understand them isn't that people will keel over there and then, but the affects are more long term and insidious' The one indisputable impact of air pollution that, particularly on hot days, it can make life intolerable for people with pre-existing breathing conditions. That alone is enough reason to want to tackle the problem. However, the figures that are often now quoted about thousands of people dying due to air pollution seem to me dubious. As far as I can see some assumptions have been made and then extrapolated to reach these figures. There is an overwhelming link between people dying of respiratory issues and being smokers but I am unaware of any studies that can verify claims about mortality due to air quality. The recently released ONS figures on mortality rates seem to show a very strong correlation with income and longevity and zero correlation with the quality of air in a particular area. 'So a child exposed to pollution may develop breathing difficulties when older, and that affects their quality of life as an adult' Is there any medical evidence that this happens at the degree of exposure a child growing up in Chiswick is likely to have? 'An obvious answer is to have fewer vehicles driving along Chiswick High Road.' There has been a steady decline in the number of vehicles in London, and presumably therefore driving along the High Road, over the last decade with the trend only having reversed in the last year or so. At the same time there will have been a steady improvement in emissions from these vehicle due to improved engine standards and tighter controls. Yet air quality seems to have got worse. This is almost definitely down to the restriction of road space for general traffic and priority given to buses. 'Cycle Superhighway 9 is meant to be routed along Chiswick High Road and while plans haven't been released yet, if it is done properly it should mean the removal of some car parking spaces and re-allocation of some road space' Whilst I think this will be a good thing overall it will not improve air quality because it will lead to the allocation of road space away from general traffic. As a consequence this will flow more slowly and emit more fumes along the High Road. Overall, I don't think there is an easy answer to this problem. I'm not against improved bus priority or schemes to encourage cycling but it should not be pretended that they are going to deliver cleaner air. Also we should not be frightening people with exaggerated claims about mortality rates due to breathing London's air. It is inevitable the number of vehicles on our road is going to increase. No matter what you do to try and ensure that new residents don't own cars, the provision of goods and services to these people will increase traffic. Against that there will be a trend to cleaner engine technologies particularly on buses which will make a significant difference over time. Hopefully this will be enough to end the deterioration in air quality until we are all driving electronic cars with traffic managed by a single computer. |