Brimblecombe's wide-ranging research has covered many different aspects of atmospheric chemistry and air pollution, but also makes connections to broader history, art, and culture. As he put it in a 2009 lecture: "Environmental pollution is not merely a matter of environmental chemistry. The smells have to be smelt. Painting and poetry can be as informative as a scientific description when trying to understand the complexities of environmental problems".
He has published numerous papers on the effects of air pollution on historic buildings and monuments, and both historical artifacts and everyday objects. In 2004, he was one of a group of experts from 10 countries involved in a three-year "Noah's Ark" project designed "to investigate the effects of climate change and pollution on Europe's historic built environment over the next 100 years". He has provided scientific advice on heritage and conservation to the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the House of Lords.
He is a frequent media commentator on issues related to pollution and the environment, including such topics as the ozone layer, climate change, air pollution in China, atmospheric acidity and acid rain, and the 1952 Great Smog of London.
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Pearce, Fred (5 December 1992). "Back to the days of deadly smogs: Forty years ago this week, four thousand Londoners died in the worst air-pollution disaster on record. London has cleaned up its act, but smog is killing again in other cities". New Scientist. Retrieved 2 June 2023. ... says Peter Brimblecombe ... whose book The Big Smoke is the definitive history of London's air pollution... https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13618504-600/
Lean, Geoffrey (6 December 2012). "The Great Smog of London". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 June 2023. ... as Prof Peter Brimblecombe in his classic book The Big Smoke, records... https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A311215209/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=b28d4be0
Philip Eden (20 November 2008). Great British Weather Disasters. A&C Black. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-8264-7621-0. OCLC 298177812. According to Peter Brimblecombe who wrote The Big Smoke - the definitive history of air pollution in London... 978-0-8264-7621-0
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Brimblecombe, Peter (1973). The Aqueous Oxidation of Atmospheric Sulphur Dioxide. University of Auckland (Thesis). Retrieved 2 June 2023. https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/handle/2292/1595
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Lean, Geoffrey (6 December 2012). "The Great Smog of London". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 June 2023. ... as Prof Peter Brimblecombe in his classic book The Big Smoke, records... https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A311215209/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=b28d4be0
Woodford, Chris (2021). Breathless: Why Air Pollution Matters and How it Affects You. London: Icon. p. 61. ISBN 9781785787102. Peter Brimblecombe's The Big Smoke... remains one of the best introductions to this subject. 9781785787102
Hamlin, Christopher (1988). "Review of The Big Smoke: A History of Air Pollution in London since Medieval Times, by P. Brimblecombe". Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies. 20 (4): 654-655. doi:10.2307/4050228. JSTOR 4050228. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Luckin, Bill (1991). "Review of The Big Smoke: A History of Air Pollution in London Since Medieval Times., by P. Brimblecombe". The Economic History Review. 44 (4): 722–23. doi:10.2307/2597810. JSTOR 2597810. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
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Plester, Jeremy (18 October 2007). "Weather: Weatherwatch: The Tower of London". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2023. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A169959256/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=c0d31a29
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Yeo, Sophie (24 March 2015). "Are National Trust libraries at risk from climate change?". Carbon Brief. Retrieved 4 June 2023. https://www.carbonbrief.org/are-national-trust-libraries-at-risk-from-climate-change/
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