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The greater visibility and the absence of "bulging" in the diagrammatic records
in the lower estuary are significant. Traditionally the Thames estuary is a region
of mists and fogs, but their effect on observed visibility is much less than, judged by
the standard of London observations, might have been anticipated. It appears
evident that the lessened visibility in London is due rather to special local conditions
of smoke and dust than to its geographical position in this region of mist and fog.
But just because the London atmosphere is so much worsened by the smoke and dust
and grime so abundantly in evidence, the hope for improvement is the better grounded.
That clearer, cleaner, brighter atmosphere is a hygienic need of the great metropolis
scarcely needs stating. It is, therefore, a matter for unqualified satisfaction that the
widespread efforts to improve the physical conditions of the London atmosphere
will not be wholly thwarted by the natural circumstances of its geographical position.
The following diagram shows the mean of visibility based on observations made
simultaneously from the Fleche of the County Hall and from the deck of a vessel
off Southend, respectively.
(Observations from the County Hall are represented by a solid line, those from off,Southend
by a broken line.)