When smog hits the headlines

January's smog broke recent records, but while glib comparisons with Beijing can result in action, they are also misleading

Newspaper headlines in January told us that London's air pollution was worse than Beijing. BBC journalist Joseph D'Urso likened this to the heatwave weather stories each summer that say Brighton is hotter than Barcelona. Brighton is not normally as warm as Barcelona. Comparing particle pollution, London was worse than Beijing for four smoggy days, from 20 to 23 January, but over the whole month London's particle pollution was around a quarter of that in the Chinese capital.

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