The GLA has issued a report about air pollution – available here.
It claims at least 3,000 people die prematurely in London each year due to air pollution. to make matters worse this is based on average air pollution for England. We all know London air quality is some of the worst in England.
– 3,000 amongst 7 million population.
– Southwark’s population is 270,000 people.
– Life expectancy in Southwark is around 75 years.
– QED 3.2% at least of the Southwark population will die prematurely due to air pollution.
Truly frightening.
What is Boris doing to lead and help on this issue….accelerating traffic across London by reducing pedestrian crossing times.
There are some dubious assumptions here. First, 3,000 people out of 7 million is around 0.04% – or 42 in 100,000. Secondly, the 3,000 quoted is based on London assumptions that have been revised upwards from the 1,000 that is applicable to England as a whole.
That’s not to say it isn’t a problem – not least because pollution affects lung development, so children will be disproportionately affected. However, air quality is significantly better than it was twenty, or even ten, years ago, so life expectancy is likely to increase, just not as quickly as it might have done.
Air quality does need improvement as long as it has any effect. However, it’s moot whether increasing the time cars spend idling and accelerating is likely to help. It is clear, however, that delaying the third phase of the low-emission zone won’t help at all in terms of air quality, and may also be counter-productive in terms of business – light-van owners would be hit by the cost, but modification work would create jobs.
It is a difficult subject, especially now the economy is broken, and it’s tied up with other equality issues, too. But it makes it no simpler if arguments are mangled to justify solutions that might exacerbate the problem at hand. Pedestrian crossing times, and the lack of crossing phases at many junctions, does directly affect lives, but in ways that are more direct, and more messy, than air pollution.
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