Key points from article :
London's air pollution has plunged with 94% reduction in the no. of people living in areas with illegal levels of NO2.
Levels of NO2 fell by 44% between early 2017 and early 2020.
Reductions in levels are dramatic & show that air pollution crisis is not intractable.
More than 9,000 died due to dirty air in 2015 & about 2M in the capital lived with polluted air in 2016.
But this fell to 119,000 in 2019.
The report doesn't include falls in pollution seen after Covid-19 lockdown.
Dirty vehicles have been deterred from entering the city centre.
Putting low-emission buses on the dirtiest routes, ending licensing of new diesel taxis & promoting cycling have contributed.
“I’m pleased that Londoners are breathing cleaner air and that we’re saving the NHS billions of pounds.”- Sadiq Khan, Mayor.
But 99% of London has particle pollution levels above WHO's limit.
Report by Mayor of London and Kings College London.
