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London has been in a centuries-long battle to clean up its air. Since the industrial revolution, a healthy mix of factories, cars, and general everyday city life has led to the capital having a reputation as a pretty smoggy place – but that may not be completely accurate anymore.
Despite its controversial introduction, London’s ULEZ seems to be working a treat. No more of this ‘big smoke’ nonsense – London officially has some of the cleanest air of any major European city. Breathe it in, savour the lack of fumes. That’s some seriously good air you’ve got in your lungs.
That’s according to research done by IQair, who measured the amount of pollutants in the air at any given time and then gave cities across Europe a score ranging from 0 to 300+.
After all that, London was revealed to have the eighth highest quality air of any city in Europe, with an average of 7.14 microgroms of pollutants in every cubic metre of air. Not too shabby if you ask us.
The best air in Europe is apparently in Dublin, where there’s only 4.16 micrograms per m3, but we’d expect nothing different from the emerald isle itself. Bern and Oslo rounded out the top three, both with fewer than 5mg per m3, which makes sense considering both places emphasise sustainable energy practices and environmentalism.
For reference, according to IQair the worst quality air in the world is currently in New Delhi, where there’s 103.20 mg/m3. So London’s doing pretty well, all things considered.
Let’s hope that London is able to maintain these standards for its air, ULEZ or ULEZ-less, so we can all breathe a little easier. Literally.
Did you see that all of London’s Elizabeth Line stations now have mobile phone coverage?
Plus: This London chippie is selling prosecco battered fish.
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