Something strange is happening and I’m not sure I like it. I should think its great, but no one else has noticed. The air outside is GOOD, not just for a moment, but for minutes on end. Yesterday, I thought there were fewer cars on the road than usual and put this down to the cricket world cup success hangover. But today there weren’t many cars and the the air was good again. Then it dawned on me that it must be the school summer holidays. If I were in charge of air quality in the council I’d be shouting about this success from the rooftops and taking the credit.

This was taken in the center of town today:

But this was taken near the center of town yesterday:

I have a feeling there will be a trend for better air for a little while, and this is definitely a good sign for anyone who is paying attention to this kind of thing. Knowing a pollution level of NO2 is one thing, but knowing what the real risk is, is another thing altogether. My feeling is that we accept that the air isn’t great, but not as bad as it really is, because we can’t see most of the dad stuff and/or think that we are tough enough for it not to bother us. I used to tough it out and would have freaked out how bad it was when I was really ill, when there was no one around to see. My plan when I get back from my travels is to send the air quality to my local GP surgery and pin it on my notice board downstairs.

80% of air pollution is from traffic. The problem is that we will not give up using our cars. We have too much invested in them, financially and emotionally. A car is a sign of our freedom, and how well our lives are going. Taking a bus limits where we can go, when we can go, and means sitting next to the great unwashed. Not only that, but we have been fed a diet of fear about other people. We protect outselves and our families, while at the same time hurting ourselves and our families. In short, air pollution is caused by us. Except, that’s not entirely true. Mis-reporting of emissions by major car manufacturers has been a scandal, and the move to diesel cars in a move to reduce CO2 emissions ignored all the other bad stuff we’re trying to deal with now. But it is our fault. I’m sure there even are climate change deniers out there who see a change in the climate, but fail to accept how bad it is. We live in denial to many things and air quality is just one of them. For example, I think I’ll be fine, because someone is paying attention somewhere. If it was bad, everyone would be complaining.