Photo/Illutration Sameh Shoukry, president of the COP27 climate summit, left, speaks at the COP27 U.N. Climate Summit on Nov. 6 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. (AP Photo)

There was a time when fog was a specialty of London in November.

In the mid-19th century, Charles Dickens (1812-1870) repeated the word “fog” 13 times in Chapter One of “Bleak House.”

The following is a partial quote: “Fog everywhere. Fog up the river (Thames), where it flows among green aits and meadows ... Fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the tiers of shipping ... Fog on the Essex marshes ... Fog creeping into the cabooses of collier-brigs ... and hovering in the rigging of great ships ... (People felt) as if they were up in a balloon, and hanging in the misty clouds.”

This fog was not entirely a natural phenomenon. It was actually air pollution caused by acid fog generated by coal during the Industrial Revolution and smoke from the chimneys of private homes.

In the so-called Great Smog of London of December 1952, about 4,000 more people reportedly died from air pollution than in any year.

Will there be a revival of this sort of “dirty fog”?

Amid the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there are reports of moves being made that run counter to decarbonization. Soaring fuel prices are casting a pall over the COP27 conference that kicked off on Nov. 6 in Egypt.

Last year’s COP26 conference in Scotland confirmed the goal of keeping temperature rises since before the Industrial Revolution to 1.5 degrees and mapped out a plan for the phased reduction of coal-fired thermal power generation.

However, after Germany decided to restart its coal-fired power plants, other nations of Europe, such as Netherlands and Italy, also started considering reusing cheap coal.

This may be only a temporary measure to tide over the crisis, but over the long term, the situation will only get worse unless the move is made to switch to clean energy.

After the tragedy in 1952, Britain passed the Clean Air Act in 1956, and natural fog returned to London.

A haiku by Fura Maeda (1884-1954) goes to the effect, “Drips from autumn fog/ the sun shines.”

The war in Ukraine is posing a tough question to the entire world. I hope many people will share their wisdom to overcome the crisis and clear this dense, noxious fog.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 8

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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