Kōrero: Atmosphere

In the winters of 1974, 1975 and 1976 the New Zealand government requested that consumers limit their use of power due to pressures on the electricity supply. This cartoon plays on this issue. Open fires were for much of the 20th century the main form of heating in many New Zealand houses. The fires burnt wood and coal, but were very inefficient because most of the heat went up the chimney. Air pollution improved in many places as more people switched to electric heating.