Interesting that asthma attacks are up so sharply, but I’m unconvinced it’s down to “Toxic air”. Generally things seem to be on a improving trend, so getting a 45% increase in health issues would suggest something else at play.
There were on average 6 days of ‘Moderate’ or higher pollution at urban pollution monitoring sites in 2024, down from 9 days in 2023.
The number of days with ‘Moderate’ or higher air pollution at rural monitoring sites peaked in 2018. Levels have fluctuated since then, with noticeable drops in 2021 and 2024, when the number of days with ‘Moderate’ or higher air pollution fell to the lowest level since 2016.
Since 2015 the mean number of days of ‘Moderate’ or higher pollution has been higher at rural sites than urban sites due to ozone pollution. There were on average fewer days of ‘Moderate’ or higher pollution at rural pollution monitoring sites in 2024 compared with 2023 (19 days in 2023, 11 days in 2024).
In 2024, as in previous years, ozone was responsible for a large proportion of the ‘Moderate’ or higher pollution days at rural sites. The increase in ozone pollution in most years since 2018 was in part due to the prolonged hot and sunny conditions experienced in the UK in the summer of these years.
They’re also comparing total appointment numbers from a time period where there was a lot of Nurse/doctor strike action against a time period where strikes had stopped and NHS staff were working through a backlog.
It seems insane to measure air pollution by this metric rather than, you know, actually looking at air pollution levels.
Interesting that asthma attacks are up so sharply, but I’m unconvinced it’s down to “Toxic air”. Generally things seem to be on a improving trend, so getting a 45% increase in health issues would suggest something else at play.
From https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/air-quality-statistics/summary
Days with ‘Moderate’ or higher air pollution
There were on average 6 days of ‘Moderate’ or higher pollution at urban pollution monitoring sites in 2024, down from 9 days in 2023.
The number of days with ‘Moderate’ or higher air pollution at rural monitoring sites peaked in 2018. Levels have fluctuated since then, with noticeable drops in 2021 and 2024, when the number of days with ‘Moderate’ or higher air pollution fell to the lowest level since 2016.
Since 2015 the mean number of days of ‘Moderate’ or higher pollution has been higher at rural sites than urban sites due to ozone pollution. There were on average fewer days of ‘Moderate’ or higher pollution at rural pollution monitoring sites in 2024 compared with 2023 (19 days in 2023, 11 days in 2024).
In 2024, as in previous years, ozone was responsible for a large proportion of the ‘Moderate’ or higher pollution days at rural sites. The increase in ozone pollution in most years since 2018 was in part due to the prolonged hot and sunny conditions experienced in the UK in the summer of these years.
They’re also comparing total appointment numbers from a time period where there was a lot of Nurse/doctor strike action against a time period where strikes had stopped and NHS staff were working through a backlog.
It seems insane to measure air pollution by this metric rather than, you know, actually looking at air pollution levels.