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By Professor John Robertson OBA
In the Guardian today:
Millions of Britons [sic…well sick, I suppose – Latin joke] face higher risk of heart failure due to dirty air, study suggests – Exclusive: stroke risk is 7% higher and heart failure risk increases by 27% in areas with worst level of pollution, research shows.
So are all Britons (sic) suffering the same level of air pollution?
What about Scotland?
‘Only seven countries meet WHO air quality standard, research finds’….plus Scotland
According to the Guardian in March 2024, Scotland is not a country and by implication falls with the UK into the failed group.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/19/air-pollution-health-report
The latest WHO level for the deadly PM2.5 particles is 5 micrograms per cubic metre.
Though no Scottish average seems available, you can, I find, go to the IQAir site and find the level of PM2.5 where you live.
How about Glasgow High Street?
2.5, well under the WHO level.
https://www.iqair.com/gb/uk/scotland/glasgow/glasgow-high-street
To my surprise the partly-pedestrianised Ayr High Street – 5.7, just over.
Aberdeen Anderson Drive – 4.5
Edinburgh Tower Street – 1.5!
Busy Queensferry Road – 1.9
Bainsford Falkirk – 2.1.
I can’t find anywhere worse than my local High Street!
So, the Scottish average looks likely to be well within WHO limits.
Greenwich London – 13
Kingston upon Thames – sounds lovely – 15! Gasp.
At that, I’ll leave you to play with the app for your own places of interest, Breathe easy…I hope.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
About 5 years ago a child aged about 7, who lived in Lewisham borough died of respiratory problems. At the inquest, the coroner explicitly stated that the cause of death was due to the high level of air pollutants on the main road where the family’s flat was located.
This was the first time that ambient air pollution had been identified in a legal setting as being the cause of death.
Of course, for many years, scientific data had been indicating this, but, of course, the motoring lobby and their media lackeys pooh-poohed it. Look at the mendacious bye election in west London after the liar, Boris Johnson resigned. The Tories, unexpectedly retained the seat, after running a mendacious Johnsonian campaign against the ULEZ. And the egregious Starmer criticised London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, for the result because of his insistence on extending the ULEZ.
Look at how the Scottish media attacked the LEZ in central Glasgow, and how the local papers in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee continue to attack proposals for LEZs in these cities.
In your own neck of the woods in Ayr, a relatively affluent area with high car ownership and lots of Tory voters the poor air quality data does not surprise me. Ayr, being on the coast has sea breezes which tend to disperse air pollution, so the amount of pollution being emitted by gas guzzling SUVs must be pretty high.
Alasdair Macdonald
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Spot on. Some of the SUVs look like they have an armed response unit in them!
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Sorry John, but was having a smoke…
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I’m always telling my relatives back in Grangemouth that we have champagne air here in Ayr
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