Letter: Green Japan

Sir: Nicholas Schoon is right to ask what difference it will make to have information on air pollution made more widely available ("Appliance of science to smog alerts", 20 November). The answer, of course, is that those who suffer ill-health because of traffic fumes, up to 15 million in the UK, will now know when to stay as prisoners in their own homes.

Michael Meacher may take pride in a reporting system that leads the world, but the desperate need now is not for information on how poisonous the air is, but for clean air itself. The Government must commit itself to reducing pollution by tackling the causes of pollution, in particular traffic.

ANDY SPRING

Enfield,

Middlesex