International Regulation of Urban Smog Since the 1940s - Air Pollution and Global Warming: History, Science, and Solutions - page 192

decreased by 57 percent, improving air quality.
Although there are fewer vehicles in the UK than in
many other EU countries, vehicles in the UK are driven
more miles than in other EU countries, resulting in
vehicles being one of the largest sources of pollution
in the UK.
In 2007, the UK passed the Air Quality Standards
Regulations 2007 ,which was subsequently superseded
by the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 .
These laws set ambient air quality standards, allow-
ing different standards to be set for different zones of
the UK. For zones in which a standard is exceeded, the
laws require a plan to be submitted for the zone to meet
the standard. The laws also require air pollution mon-
itoring. The 2010 law also incorporates EU directives
specifying ambient limits on toxic pollutants and ozone
precursors.
Regulations have improved air quality in the UK to
levels not seen since the onset of the Industrial Revo-
lution (European Environment Agency, 2010a). How-
ever, UK air pollution is still estimated to reduce the
average life span by 6 months and kill 50,000 people
per year prematurely. Between 1992 and 2009, aver-
age annual ambient PM 10 concentrations decreased by
about 44 percent, and NO 2 (g) mixing ratios decreased
by about one-third across the country at urban locations.
Ozone levels, in contrast, increased by about 4 per-
cent. Emissions of most primary pollutants decreased
significantly during this period (European Environment
Agency, 2010a).

area. The agency combined existing with new mon-
itoring stations to produce a network of seventy-five
stations. Pollutants measured include CO(g), NO 2 (g),
SO 2 (g), O 3 (g), lead, and total suspended particulates.
In 1985, France instituted a tax on SO 2 (g) emissions.
The tax was subsequently extended to include NO x (g),
VOCs, and HCl(g). Since December 1990, the French
Environment and Energy Management Agency, a pub-
lic agency with private partnerships, has overseen air
pollution regulation in France. In 1994, the agency first
established a nationwide system of alerting the public
to high levels of pollution. In 1996, France passed the
Law on Air and the Rational Use of Energy ,which
set ambient air quality standards, requirements for mon-
itoring pollution, emission standards, and requirements
for regions to submit 5-year air quality plans in order
to meet air pollution regulations. The law also required
ambient and emission standards to be in compliance
with EU standards.
Regulation of air pollution in France due to EU direc-
tives resulted in improved air quality for several pollu-
tants between 2000 and 2009. The greatest improve-
ments were for SO 2 (g) (a 65-percent reduction in
ambient levels) and NO 2 (g) (a 14-percent reduction in
ambient levels). However, ozone increased slightly and
PM 10 decreased only slightly during this period (Euro-
pean Environment Agency, 2010b).

8.2.4. Germany
From the late 1800s to the 1980s, the largest source
of energy in Germany was coal. Much of the coal
in Germany was high in sulfur and originated from
the Ruhr region .Inthe 1920s, particulate soot, sul-
fur dioxide, and chemical pollution became so severe
and industry so powerful that around 1930, the school
in Solingen in the Ruhr region had to shut down for 18
months to accommodate industrial emissions (McNeill,
2000). The leveling of many factories in the Ruhr
region during World War II reduced pollution tem-
porarily. In the 1950s, industry rebounded, increasing
pollution levels to new heights. In the 1960s, a law in
West Germany required new smokestacks to be taller
than before, reducing pollution locally, but increasing it
downwind.
In East Germany after World War II, the primary
coal burned was lignite (brown) coal, which is relatively
dirty with high sulfur levels. The region between Dres-
den (Germany), Prague (Czech Republic), and Krakow
(Poland) is rich in lignite coal and is called the sul-
fur triangle .Asinthe Ruhr region, steel, coal, cement,

8.2.3. France
Because it lacked domestic fossil fuel energy sources
and desired independence from reliance on imported
fuel for electricity, France developed a large nuclear
power industry starting in the 1970s, resulting in lower
than European-averaged air pollution emissions from
the electric power sector. Instead, vehicles are the major
source of air pollution in France. The country had a
population of about 65 million people and 32 million
vehicles in 2011.
Air pollution monitoring in Paris began in 1956,
when the Laboratoire d'Hygiene installed an outdoor
surveillance network. In 1972, a network that measured
pollution from automobiles near roads was introduced,
and in 1973, a twenty-five-station monitoring net-
work that measured pollution near electric utilities was
funded. In 1979, the French Ministry of the Environ-
ment created a government agency responsible for mea-
suring pollution and assessing its impacts in the Paris