On October 27th 1948 the town of Donora woke up in a thick yellow fog. Considered as one of the worst air pollution in the US history, in 5 days half of the population was effected by the gases in the fog and 5 people died. But how did this happen?
Donora was known as one of the biggest cities with Steel Zinc Works and American Steel and Wire plant industries. These companies produced emissions of poisonous gases and fine matter that with a temperature inversion produced this terrible smog. After the rainstorm, that brought away the fog, the United States Public Health Service launch an investigation. In the end the industries were not completely blamed because of their economic power, but they also put the blame on the temperature inversion and other sources of pollution. The outcomes from this disaster were both negative and positive. The negative’s were: 5 people died in the 5 days, half of the population was sick and in the following years the number of deaths for cardiovascular diseases and cancer increased significantly. The positive’s were: after the disaster the government started to take air pollution more seriously and they started to create new laws like the Clean air act in 1963.
In conclusion the Donora smog was a terrible disaster that killed thousands of people and effected the life of the Donora’s citizens in the fllowing years. Fortunately, from this disaster the government started to take air pollution more seriously and new laws were made to put the situation under control.
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