Research Reveals Oil Age

As the Government looks at new ways to tackle pollution from transport, a leading academic from Lancashire?s Edge Hill University has developed a new term to describe a layer of pollution found in lake sediments, generated by modern industry and transport in the early 21st century.

Dr Ann Worsley, an expert in physical geography, has observed three stages of air pollution evident in lake sediments in the Merseyside areas of Liverpool, Runcorn and Widnes, and she suggests they are based on the consumption of fossil fuels; coal and oil.

The new research identifies phases in the story of air pollution, from the industrial revolution and the burning of coal in the 19th and early 20th centuries, to pollution generated by modern industry and transport in the late 20th and early 21st century.

Dr Worsley believes that we are leaving a geological imprint across the environment derived by the combustion of fossil fuels, which she has called the Oleanthropocene period or the age of oil burning humans, developed from the term Anthropocene proposed by Nobel Scientist Paul Crutzen in 2000.

"The Liverpool, Runcorn and Widnes areas are particularly interesting in terms of the history of air pollution as they were key to the Industrial Revolution in the UK and have continued to see very high levels of industrial activity," said Dr Worsley. " This is evidence of pollution that not only has an impact on human population in terms of health, but is so significant that scientists of the future may see a distinctive layer in sedimentary formations around the world."

Air pollution in these areas may have a significant impact on the population since the North-West has very high rates of asthma and respiratory diseases. Dr Worsley believes there may be a direct correlation between air pollution and human health and this research will enable scientists to look at this more closely.

"The Government really should be making more progress on curbing emissions from the aviation industry and from road transport not only for the sake of global climate change, but also for our own health and well-being, our communities and for the environment in which we live."