Smog facts for kids

Claude Monet's painting of London smog in 1904. It was mainly caused by burning coal in homes and trains

Smog is a type of air pollutant; the word "smog" is a combination of smoke and fog. Classic smog results from large amounts of coal burning in an area and is caused by a mixture of smoke and sulfur dioxide.

London is where it first happened. Coal fires are now illegal in London, and trains are driven by other fuels. In cities like Los Angeles it is the exhaust fumes of cars which cause the smog.

Delhi is supposed to be the most polluted city on Earth. Smogs cause lung diseases and increase the death rate. According to one estimate, air pollution causes the death of about 10,500 people in Delhi every year.

Peking (Beijing) is another city where air pollution is serious. Car emissions and coal burning are the main reasons for their pollution. They also get pollution from some neighbouring regions, due to the pattern of air movement in the area.

Images for kids

• 

  The photochemical smog formation diagram. (Based on U 6.3.3 in mrgsciences.com)

• 

  Airplane used to collect airborne hydrocarbons, May 1972

• 

  The presence of smog in California is shown near the Golden Gate Bridge. The brown coloration is due to the NO2 formed from photochemical smog reactions.

• 

  During the autumn and spring months, some 500 million tons of rice and wheat crop residues are burnt, and winds blow from India's north and northwest towards east. This aerial view shows India's annual crop burning, resulting in smoke and air pollution over Delhi and adjoining areas.

• 

  Dense smog blankets Connaught Place, New Delhi

• 

  Victorian London was notorious for its thick smogs, or "pea-soupers", a fact that is often recreated (as here) to add an air of mystery to a period costume drama

• 

  Grease filter hood after 4 days at Italian city polluted air in winter (all surface was white)

• 

  Situated in a valley, and relying heavily on automobiles, Mexico City often suffers from poor air quality.

• 

  Photochemical smog over Mexico City, December 2010

• 

  A NASA astronaut's photograph of a smog layer over central New York

• 

  View of smog south from Los Angeles City Hall, September 2011

• 

  Counties in the United States where one or more National Ambient Air Quality Standards are not met, as of October 2015

• 

  Singapore's Downtown Core on 7 October 2006, when it was affected by forest fires in Sumatra, Indonesia

• 

  Smog in São Paulo, Brazil

See also

In Spanish: Esmog para niños