ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 196

Introduction
Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom (UK), was a leader in the industrial revolution
and that was due to the abundance in key resources, population, labour, natural resources in the
North such as coal, iron, copper, which all led to the development of industry (Fig.1) (Kennedy
1989)

Figure 1:Relative Shares of World Manufacturing Output, 1750-1900 (Kennedy 1989)

All of the progress on the industrial side came at a price, where the environment of the UK started
to change, and excess of coal use in the first half of the 20th century in England led to the great
smog incident in 1952, where for 5 days London gasped for fresh air (Fig.2). Following a government investigation, however, Parliament passed the Clean Air Act of 1956, which restricted the
burning of coal in urban areas and authorized local councils to set up smoke-free zones. Homeowners received grants to convert from coal to alternative heating systems (Klein 2012).

Figure 2: Smog in London (Getty Images 2014)

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ZEMCH 2015 | International Conference | Bari - Lecce, Italy