SO₂ L -0.4
Industrial FM Drone
Low-register FM synth & sub-oscillator; gritty coal harmonics resolve to pure root.
Data Value 98.5 idx
Synth Mapping FM Mod 15.2 · Sub +55%
Output Level -∞ dB
71-Year Atmospheric Stripes & Synchronized Trajectories
Click or drag anywhere across the 71 annual bars (1956–2026) to scrub and audition the atmosphere in real time.
- SO₂ (idx)
- PM₂.₅ (µg/m³)
- NOₓ (idx)
- NH₃ (idx)
View accessible benchmark data table & acoustic transcript (1956–2026)
| Year | SO₂ (idx) | PM₂.₅ (µg/m³) | NOₓ (idx) | NH₃ (idx) | Historical & Acoustic Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | 98.5 | 55.2 | 45.0 | 86.8 | 1956: Clean Air Act Passed — Enacted in response to the Great Smog of December 1952, empowering local authorities to declare Smoke Control Areas, mandate smokeless domestic fuels, and relocate coal burning. |
| 1968 | 80.9 | 38.9 | 59.5 | 88.9 | 1968: Second Clean Air Act — Extended statutory controls to industrial grit, dust, and metallurgical furnaces, mandating taller factory chimneys to disperse concentrated sulphur plumes. |
| 1975 | 61.1 | 29.2 | 68.1 | 90.9 | 1975: North Sea Gas Transition — Nationwide conversion from coal-derived town gas and domestic coal hearths to sulphur-free North Sea natural gas drives a steep structural collapse in urban SO₂ and winter black smoke. |
| 1989 | 38.4 | 18.3 | 86.6 | 94.4 | A tale of two curves: coal-related SO₂ continues retreating while booming road traffic lifts national NOₓ to its 1989–1990 peak alongside high agricultural ammonia. |
| 1993 | 29.8 | 16.4 | 78.9 | 93.0 | 1993: Catalytic Converters Mandatory — Euro 1 exhaust standards require three-way catalytic converters on all new petrol cars just as UK road-transport NOₓ peaks, while Flue Gas Desulphurisation retrofits scrub power-station SO₂. |
| 2008 | 7.9 | 11.2 | 43.2 | 85.6 | 2008: Air Quality Standards Regulations — Binding ambient PM₂.₅ exposure-reduction targets enter UK law alongside London’s first Low Emission Zone, shifting policy focus toward fine secondary aerosols and diesel NO₂. |
| 2020 | 4.4 | 7.5 | 22.9 | 89.6 | COVID-19 lockdowns temporarily slash UK road and aviation traffic, producing an unprecedented single-year drop in urban NOₓ while agricultural NH₃ continues unabated. |
| 2026 | 4.0 | 7.4 | 22.0 | 88.6 | 2026: 70th Anniversary — WHO Guideline Gap — Seventy years after the 1956 Act, UK coal power is gone and SO₂ has fallen ~96%, yet urban PM₂.₅ (~7.5 µg/m³) still exceeds the 5 µg/m³ WHO guideline and agricultural NH₃ remains virtually unchanged. |
Four-Channel Acoustic Synthesis Mixer
Isolate individual atmospheric voices with Solo (S) or silence them with Mute (M). Logarithmic scaling keeps post-2000 nuances clearly audible.
PM₂.₅ CENTER
Clearing Fog Filter & Pink Noise
Warm saturated pink-noise bed + global low-pass filter sweeping open as haze clears.
Data Value 55.2 µg/m³
Synth Mapping Fog LPF 920 Hz · Pink Sat
Output Level -∞ dB
NOₓ R +0.4
Transport Arpeggio Pulse
Mid-range resonant synth pulse swelling through the 1970s–80s road boom.
Data Value 45.0 idx
Synth Mapping Res Q 2.8 · Density 44%
Output Level -∞ dB
NH₃ STEREO
Persistent High Shimmer
High-register reverberant modal pad remaining stubbornly constant across 70 years.
Data Value 86.8 idx
Synth Mapping Shimmer Reverb · Steady
Output Level -∞ dB