ABSTRACT

Citizens of London were used to fog. It had been around since the 1800s, when people began heating their homes with coal. When the soot from the coal mixed with the damp London air, it made a dark fog that people said was as thick as “pea soup.” The fog had been around for decades, so nobody was all that worried when another “pea souper” rolled in on December 5, 1952. By afternoon, the fog was a strange yellow color that burned the nose and lungs when people breathed. The fog got thicker and darker, until it was so dark that cars couldn’t drive during the daytime even using headlights. The fog eventually lifted on December 9 when a cold wind moved in from the west. The people of London could finally breathe. But politicians and authorities were worried that another killer fog could be just around the corner.