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KF5JRV > TODAY 04.12.22 11:32l 28 Lines 1481 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 3_KD5TCY
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History
Path: IW8PGT<LU4ECL<VK2RZ<VK2IO<W0ARP<KF5JRV<KD5TCY
Sent: 221204/0822Z 3@KD5TCY.KD5TCY.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.23
Heavy smog begins to hover over London, England, on December 4, 1952.
It persists for five days, leading to the deaths of at least 4,000 people.
It was a Thursday afternoon when a high-pressure air mass stalled over the Thames
River Valley. When cold air arrived suddenly from the west, the air over London
became trapped in place. The problem was exacerbated by low temperatures, which
caused residents to burn extra coal in their furnaces. The smoke, soot and
sulfur dioxide from the area’s industries along with that from cars and consumer
energy usage caused extraordinarily heavy smog to smother the city. By the
morning of December 5, there was a visible pall cast over hundreds of square miles.
The Great Smog of 1952 became so thick and dense that by December 7 there
was virtually no sunlight and visibility was reduced to five yards in many
places. Eventually, all transportation in the region was halted, but not
before the smog caused several rail accidents, including a collision between
two trains near London Bridge. The worst effect of the smog, however, was
the respiratory distress it caused in humans and animals, including
difficulty breathing and the vomiting of phlegm. One of the first noted
victims was a prize cow that suffocated on December 5. An unusually high
number of people in the area, numbering in the thousands, died in their
sleep that weekend.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
Email KF5JRV@gmail.com
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