London air pollution, 1500-1900.

Documentary evidence for the changes in the air pollutant levels and climate of London are compared with the results obtained from a simple single box model for the annual mean SO2 and particulate levels in the London air. Sulphur dioxide reaches a maximum of nearly 200 μg m−3 in a plateau that stretches from 1690–1880. Particulate concentrations show a peak at the end of the 19th century.