| Air pollution well down in London 16:34 - Apr 23 with 1549 views | StokieBlue |
Not by a little bit either, up to 50% at some of the biggest junctions:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/23/toxic-air-over-london-falls-
The extension of the ULEZ next year will help but there still isn't the infrastructure for cycling or charging that we need. I did see that on one road around here all the electric boxes at the bottom of lampposts had been changed to be Siemens car charging stations which is a great idea and leverages the existing infrastructure.
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| Avatar - IC410 - Tadpoles Nebula |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 16:37 - Apr 23 with 1345 views | SomethingBlue |
It's so noticeable, as well. I live near Alexandra Palace and walk up there most days at the moment, and beyond along the Parklands Walk between Muswell Hill and Highgate where the views across London are extensive. Never seen it so clear, it's wonderful to see. Really hope it can be sustained in some way. |  |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 17:12 - Apr 23 with 1302 views | Steve_M |
| Air pollution well down in London on 16:37 - Apr 23 by SomethingBlue |
It's so noticeable, as well. I live near Alexandra Palace and walk up there most days at the moment, and beyond along the Parklands Walk between Muswell Hill and Highgate where the views across London are extensive. Never seen it so clear, it's wonderful to see. Really hope it can be sustained in some way. |
Yes, really, really noticable isn't it? You kind of get used to it normally but it's really nice.
Must make my way up to Alexandra Palace at some point, be some variation from Hampstead Heath and the canal for my walking. |  |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 17:29 - Apr 23 with 1286 views | Swansea_Blue |
Just shows we can improve things when forced to. Arguably, pollution and climate change impacts present more health issues than Coronavirus, just of a more chronic nature so we tend to get used to them and normalise them.
There'll be some good science come out of this period around the positive environmental impacts of the lockdown. Hopefully that'll demonstrate that poor situations can be reversed and it's worth making the effort. |  |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 17:31 - Apr 23 with 1280 views | StokieBlue |
| Air pollution well down in London on 17:29 - Apr 23 by Swansea_Blue |
Just shows we can improve things when forced to. Arguably, pollution and climate change impacts present more health issues than Coronavirus, just of a more chronic nature so we tend to get used to them and normalise them.
There'll be some good science come out of this period around the positive environmental impacts of the lockdown. Hopefully that'll demonstrate that poor situations can be reversed and it's worth making the effort. |
Agreed.
Although they have been reversed by essentially stopping everyone working and going outside so we need a better solution than that.
Hopefully showing what it's like now will mean there is less resistance to measures like the low emissions zones etc.
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| Avatar - IC410 - Tadpoles Nebula |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 17:34 - Apr 23 with 1270 views | Ewan_Oozami |
| Air pollution well down in London on 17:29 - Apr 23 by Swansea_Blue |
Just shows we can improve things when forced to. Arguably, pollution and climate change impacts present more health issues than Coronavirus, just of a more chronic nature so we tend to get used to them and normalise them.
There'll be some good science come out of this period around the positive environmental impacts of the lockdown. Hopefully that'll demonstrate that poor situations can be reversed and it's worth making the effort. |
Hopefully they will be taking extensive air quality samples from all cities and urban areas so when air quality deteriorates once traffic and industry get going after lockdown, we can say that's where we need to get it back to... |  |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 17:34 - Apr 23 with 1270 views | BlueBadger |
| Air pollution well down in London on 17:31 - Apr 23 by StokieBlue |
Agreed.
Although they have been reversed by essentially stopping everyone working and going outside so we need a better solution than that.
Hopefully showing what it's like now will mean there is less resistance to measures like the low emissions zones etc.
SB |
I'm predicting a massive rise in working from home even once lockdown ends. Mrs Badger's company have been swearing blind for years that it wasn't doable and now they have something in the region of 100+ people, across three sites mostly as at home, doing as efficient a job as before. |  |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 18:58 - Apr 23 with 1232 views | SomethingBlue |
| Air pollution well down in London on 17:12 - Apr 23 by Steve_M |
Yes, really, really noticable isn't it? You kind of get used to it normally but it's really nice.
Must make my way up to Alexandra Palace at some point, be some variation from Hampstead Heath and the canal for my walking. |
Do it, you actually can do a really lovely walk through the back of Ally Pally park and along the top section of the Parkland Walk to Highgate Wood, then down there to the less-visited but beautiful Queens Wood and through to Crouch End. Essentially means I can do a 90-minute/two-hour walk from home almost in a circle with only about 10 of those minutes on pavement, which is something I'd never really comprehended until the last six weeks. Highly recommend. | |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 19:31 - Apr 23 with 1197 views | bluelagos |
There simply has to be a green dividend at the end of the lockdown. Working from home has been proven to many sceptics to be perfectly feasible.
The clean air is there for all to smell / taste - just hope in the rush to get back to normality - we take a step back and ask what can we do differently. |  |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 19:35 - Apr 23 with 1195 views | Clapham_Junction |
It's really noticeable - I've been able to breath through my nose at night without using decongestant for the first time in a few years and I'm no longer wiping off black grime from my windowsills every couple of days.
Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. A few boroughs are now starting rollouts of Liveable Neighbourhood schemes following the success in Waltham Forest of mini-Holland, and there are several other things like School Streets (no traffic allowed during school opening/closing times), lorry bans etc on the way - providing politicians can hold their nerve against the rather vicious black cab mob on Twitter. Annoyingly, last year the Tower Hamlets mayor gave into them over the Bow bus gate after a day :( |  | | |
| Air pollution well down in London on 19:41 - Apr 23 with 1169 views | Dubtractor |
| Air pollution well down in London on 16:37 - Apr 23 by SomethingBlue |
It's so noticeable, as well. I live near Alexandra Palace and walk up there most days at the moment, and beyond along the Parklands Walk between Muswell Hill and Highgate where the views across London are extensive. Never seen it so clear, it's wonderful to see. Really hope it can be sustained in some way. |
Without wanting to sound too country bumpkin, as someone who heads to london maybe once a month or so for gigs, the increased pollution/smog etc is massively noticeable compared to Ipswich. My breathing is a mess usually on the train home.
A friend of mine works for a clean air charity based in London so I see a few scary bits and pieces about London air quality on my social media feeds. I can imagine that living there must do fairly noticeable long term harm. |  |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 20:19 - Apr 23 with 1114 views | Pendejo |
| Air pollution well down in London on 17:34 - Apr 23 by BlueBadger |
I'm predicting a massive rise in working from home even once lockdown ends. Mrs Badger's company have been swearing blind for years that it wasn't doable and now they have something in the region of 100+ people, across three sites mostly as at home, doing as efficient a job as before. |
I hope more people work from home, companies vacate office buildings an masse. Reduce floor space leaving a corporate office / meeting space for when face to face in the flesh contact is essential.
Perversely I think that'd mean more work for my employer, but also provide massive cost savings for thousands of companies. |  |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 20:31 - Apr 23 with 1102 views | StokieBlue |
| Air pollution well down in London on 19:35 - Apr 23 by Clapham_Junction |
It's really noticeable - I've been able to breath through my nose at night without using decongestant for the first time in a few years and I'm no longer wiping off black grime from my windowsills every couple of days.
Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. A few boroughs are now starting rollouts of Liveable Neighbourhood schemes following the success in Waltham Forest of mini-Holland, and there are several other things like School Streets (no traffic allowed during school opening/closing times), lorry bans etc on the way - providing politicians can hold their nerve against the rather vicious black cab mob on Twitter. Annoyingly, last year the Tower Hamlets mayor gave into them over the Bow bus gate after a day :( |
We have some of the school streets here.
I need to sell my car (or preferably scrap if the government had a scheme) by next year as it doesn't meet the emissions zone requirements. To be fair though I hardly ever use it so am considering if I really need one at all anymore. I'd go electric if the chargers were put in the lampposts on my street.
WFH will become more regular after this but it's still not as efficient in my mind. Perhaps it will become more of a 50/50 split.
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| Avatar - IC410 - Tadpoles Nebula |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 20:33 - Apr 23 with 1102 views | Dubtractor |
| Air pollution well down in London on 20:19 - Apr 23 by Pendejo |
I hope more people work from home, companies vacate office buildings an masse. Reduce floor space leaving a corporate office / meeting space for when face to face in the flesh contact is essential.
Perversely I think that'd mean more work for my employer, but also provide massive cost savings for thousands of companies. |
The major flaw in the mass home working thing, is how you manage things like new starters who invariably need intensive 'hand holding' for a few weeks/months. | |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 20:48 - Apr 23 with 1078 views | giant_stow |
| Air pollution well down in London on 19:35 - Apr 23 by Clapham_Junction |
It's really noticeable - I've been able to breath through my nose at night without using decongestant for the first time in a few years and I'm no longer wiping off black grime from my windowsills every couple of days.
Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. A few boroughs are now starting rollouts of Liveable Neighbourhood schemes following the success in Waltham Forest of mini-Holland, and there are several other things like School Streets (no traffic allowed during school opening/closing times), lorry bans etc on the way - providing politicians can hold their nerve against the rather vicious black cab mob on Twitter. Annoyingly, last year the Tower Hamlets mayor gave into them over the Bow bus gate after a day :( |
We're still arguing about mini-holland here in the stow. Really divided opinions. Some (often wealthier) roafs are percieved to do better out of it than other, usually poorer roads.
Theyve also managed to invent a new road crossing / ending which is neither roaf nor pavement which drives many nuts.
The cyclists are happy though. |  |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 20:55 - Apr 23 with 1065 views | Pendejo |
| Air pollution well down in London on 20:33 - Apr 23 by Dubtractor |
The major flaw in the mass home working thing, is how you manage things like new starters who invariably need intensive 'hand holding' for a few weeks/months. |
That's what you keep corporate centre for it, then buddy them with a mentor. Where there's a will there's a way.
Now I don't work in a real-time live environment I was days away from receiving the kit to enable me to work from home when furloughed, ironically I was also days away from changing my place of work from near Heathrow commuting by car to Paddington and the joys of the underground.
My colleagues in the real time environment would probably still need to be office based, if only for crises management purposes. [Post edited 23 Apr 2020 20:58]
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| Air pollution well down in London on 21:48 - Apr 23 with 1011 views | The_Last_Baron |
| Air pollution well down in London on 17:29 - Apr 23 by Swansea_Blue |
Just shows we can improve things when forced to. Arguably, pollution and climate change impacts present more health issues than Coronavirus, just of a more chronic nature so we tend to get used to them and normalise them.
There'll be some good science come out of this period around the positive environmental impacts of the lockdown. Hopefully that'll demonstrate that poor situations can be reversed and it's worth making the effort. |
There is no need for 80% of cars in London.
You have tubes, buses, get the cycles rolled out to the suburbs and just ban cars. I love the motorcar but London is one city which can't handle it and doesn't need it. |  |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 07:28 - Apr 24 with 914 views | Steve_M |
| Air pollution well down in London on 20:33 - Apr 23 by Dubtractor |
The major flaw in the mass home working thing, is how you manage things like new starters who invariably need intensive 'hand holding' for a few weeks/months. |
I think I would quite like a split, in the office three or four days a week with the odd day at home.
I've always taken the view that my job is difficult to do for long remotely because of the constant interaction which is easier when some of it is face to face. I think that's still the case but having enough IT stuff at home makes it a bit easier. | |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 07:30 - Apr 24 with 913 views | Steve_M |
| Air pollution well down in London on 18:58 - Apr 23 by SomethingBlue |
Do it, you actually can do a really lovely walk through the back of Ally Pally park and along the top section of the Parkland Walk to Highgate Wood, then down there to the less-visited but beautiful Queens Wood and through to Crouch End. Essentially means I can do a 90-minute/two-hour walk from home almost in a circle with only about 10 of those minutes on pavement, which is something I'd never really comprehended until the last six weeks. Highly recommend. |
Yes, I've done similar last Summer. Started with the New River and a loop around Woodberry Wetlands then the Parkland Walk and up to Ally Pally. Slightly more on pavement from here though. | |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 08:50 - Apr 24 with 892 views | StokieBlue |
| Air pollution well down in London on 07:28 - Apr 24 by Steve_M |
I think I would quite like a split, in the office three or four days a week with the odd day at home.
I've always taken the view that my job is difficult to do for long remotely because of the constant interaction which is easier when some of it is face to face. I think that's still the case but having enough IT stuff at home makes it a bit easier. |
The only issue companies will have with that is that desks are really expensive when you factor in everything. I guess if you are hotdesking then there isn't an issue.
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| Avatar - IC410 - Tadpoles Nebula |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 09:47 - Apr 24 with 873 views | Steve_M |
| Air pollution well down in London on 08:50 - Apr 24 by StokieBlue |
The only issue companies will have with that is that desks are really expensive when you factor in everything. I guess if you are hotdesking then there isn't an issue.
SB |
True. And given part of the reason I would prefer to be in the office at times is having three screens and a standing desk as well as being with a few metres of key colleagues then hot-desking doesn't really work for me. | |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 09:51 - Apr 24 with 869 views | BrixtonBlue |
| Air pollution well down in London on 20:33 - Apr 23 by Dubtractor |
The major flaw in the mass home working thing, is how you manage things like new starters who invariably need intensive 'hand holding' for a few weeks/months. |
I'm a new starter... haven't set foot in the office since getting the job... and it's largely been fine. I've not found it to be a major flaw. |  |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 10:06 - Apr 24 with 859 views | StokieBlue |
| Air pollution well down in London on 09:51 - Apr 24 by BrixtonBlue |
I'm a new starter... haven't set foot in the office since getting the job... and it's largely been fine. I've not found it to be a major flaw. |
I think your industry is a bit different to others and also you are a senior employee so should hit the ground running.
If it's a highly technical role it's often easier to have face-to-face onboarding.
Doesn't mean it can't be overcome though.
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| Avatar - IC410 - Tadpoles Nebula |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 10:45 - Apr 24 with 845 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Air pollution well down in London on 09:51 - Apr 24 by BrixtonBlue |
I'm a new starter... haven't set foot in the office since getting the job... and it's largely been fine. I've not found it to be a major flaw. |
How do you know you're not screwing everything up?  | |
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| Air pollution well down in London on 14:24 - Apr 24 with 798 views | Leaky |
| Air pollution well down in London on 17:34 - Apr 23 by BlueBadger |
I'm predicting a massive rise in working from home even once lockdown ends. Mrs Badger's company have been swearing blind for years that it wasn't doable and now they have something in the region of 100+ people, across three sites mostly as at home, doing as efficient a job as before. |
Welcome where possible people working from home. Could never see why people needed to get on a train to go to large cities to earn a crust. There is a downside though, have trying to get quotes for 3 jobs, contacted suppliers only to be told everything has slowed due to staff working from home. Have come to a conclusion it is best to contact people only when it rains. |  | | |
| Air pollution well down in London on 14:32 - Apr 24 with 787 views | C_HealyIsAPleasure |
| Air pollution well down in London on 10:06 - Apr 24 by StokieBlue |
I think your industry is a bit different to others and also you are a senior employee so should hit the ground running.
If it's a highly technical role it's often easier to have face-to-face onboarding.
Doesn't mean it can't be overcome though.
SB |
Can easily be done in most cases - either companies retain an office or more likely use companies like Regus for temporary space for face to face training & on the job hand holding/learning
In any event I think most businesses will see it as a minor inconvenience when compared to the savings that can be made getting rid of expensive permanent office space
Things were slowly moving this way anyway but I’ve no doubt the move to home working becoming the norm (for office based work) will be massively accelerated now |  |
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