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> Settlements used to be covered in smog due to coal fires for example. London first tried to ban burning coal within the city in 1306 due to the air quality.

• ricardo81 8mo ago
  That long ago. Surely that helped identify it as a problem even though the science behind it would have been lacking.
  • jl6 8mo ago
    I strongly suspect that most of the things we now know to be problematic were also known to be problematic to the ancients, but were thought still to be worth it for their rewards. That’s pretty much where we still are today. Nobody likes breathing pollution, everybody likes modernity.
    • ricardo81 8mo ago
      Yes, some things would have just stood to reason in a general respect, even if there wasn't hard science to back it up.
  • JKCalhoun 8mo ago
    I suppose even then it would have been obvious to anyone traveling outside London that, hmmm, the fog/smog goes away out here. Only in major cities… What could it be?
    • ricardo81 8mo ago
      seems likely. but without a scientific method to back their claims it just becomes a 'common sense' thing.