The transformation of foggy London

雾都伦敦的变迁

smoke was tolerated for more than a century

雾霾被容忍了100多年

Imagine smog so thick that you can't see your feet as you walk through it; so impenetrable[不可进入的;穿不过的;无法透视的] that it blots out the sun; so toxic that it stings your eyes and leaves you gasping for breath[喘不过气来;喘息].

想像一下，雾霾如此浓重，你在雾霾中穿行，连自己的脚都看不见；雾霾如此无法透视，阳光被挡在了天外；雾霾如此毒害，它蜇伤着你的眼睛，连呼吸都要喘气。

It may sound like the backdrop to some post-apocalyptic nightmare, but on 5 December 1952, this terrifying scenario became the reality for the people of London.

这听起来像是世界末日梦魇后的景象，但在1952年12月5日，这可怕的一幕成了伦敦人的现实。

That day's incident alone killed thousands and prompted a global transformation in the way we deal with air pollution.

仅仅是那一天的雾霾，就让数千人毙命，从此推动我们对待空气污染的方法发生了脱胎换骨的变化。

On that cold, clear day in 1952, Londoners huddled around their coal fires for warmth. But while the smoke would normally disperse into the atmosphere, an anticyclone[反气旋;高气压] hanging over the region created an inversion – trapping the pollution close to the ground and leading to the formation of a sulphurous[硫磺的], toxic shroud that would blanket the capital for the next five days.

在那个1952年寒冷、明净的日子里，伦敦人都在家里围着煤火取暖。一般情况下，煤烟升入大气后就会消散。但伦敦上空悬挂着的逆气旋造成了云层反转 – 把污染物压低到靠近地面，形成了硫磺味的有毒雾霾，在此后的5天时间里一直笼罩着英国首都。

Before the weather conditions changed and the smog retreated, thousands had died. Official estimates at the time put the number of fatalities at 4,000 – more civilian casualties than were caused by any single incident during the war – while recent research suggests that it may have caused as many as 12,000 deaths.

天气来不及改变、雾霾尚未褪去，好几千人已经死去。当时官方估计的死亡人数是4000人 – 这已经超过二战中任何单一事件造成的平民死亡。况且最近的研究还显示，当年的死亡人数或许已达到1.2万人。

Although 'pea-soupers[黄色浓雾]', as the smogs were known, had been an unavoidable feature of Britain's major cities for more than a hundred years, the Great Smog of 1952 was the worst.

当年那种雾霾，被称作“黄色浓雾”- 作为英国大城市不可避免的特征已经延续了100多年。但1952年那场“大雾霾”却是最严重的一次。

It also marked something of a turning point: until then, people had accepted smog as a necessary evil. "In Britain's coal-fuelled cities, smoke was tolerated for more than a century as a trade-off for jobs and home comforts," says environmental historian Dr Stephen Mosley.

“大雾霾”也标志着转折点的到来。直到那时候，人们都觉得雾霾是“必须的邪恶”。“在英国烧煤的城市里，烟雾被容忍已超过百年，以换取就业岗位，和家庭舒适，”环境历史学家莫斯利博士说。

Some even celebrated air pollution as a tangible measure of Britain's industrial vitality, while the blazing coal fire, with all its cosy connotations of 'home and hearth', was a luxury few were prepared to give up.

甚至有人还庆祝污染，把它当作英国工业生命力有形的指标。而熊熊的煤火，及其“家庭和壁炉”的舒适联想，则是极少人准备放弃的奢华。

Despite growing public pressure to deal with the issue, the government's reaction was sluggish. Initially it even claimed that December's high mortality was due to a flu outbreak, and seven months elapsed[(时间的)消逝] before it eventually ordered an inquiry.

尽管处理这一问题的公众压力与日剧增，政府的反应却慢慢吞吞。最初，政府甚至声称，12月份的高死亡率，是因为爆发了流感。7个月过去了，政府才最终下令调查。

Four years later, in 1956, the Clean Air Act came into force, banning the burning of polluting fuels in "smoke control areas" across the UK.

4年后的1956年，《清洁空气法案》生效了，在整个英国的“烟雾控制地区”禁止燃烧污染燃料。

The act was truly revolutionary, representing a major global milestone in environmental protection. Public health was vastly improved; flora and fauna[动植物] that had all but vanished from urban places by the 1950s began to flourish; and the grand architecture of Britain's cities was no longer obscured beneath a thick layer of soot and grime.

这部法案，的确是革命性的，代表着环境保护领域重大的全球里程碑。公共卫生大为改善。到50年代城市各地行将灭绝的动植物种群又开始繁荣起来。不列颠的城市里雄伟的建筑不再被掩埋在厚厚的煤灰和尘垢底下。

In the years that followed, a host of other industrial nations were inspired to follow suit.

在后来的岁月里，其它工业化国家都受到鼓舞，群起效仿。

英文原文：BBC

中文翻译：英汉读者