Controlled fires by the Australian Fire Brigade shrouded the city of Sydney in a dangerous cloud of smoke today. Due to the high level of air pollution, the ferry traffic was stopped and the population was asked to stay at home if necessary.
Some unions urged workers to stop working if the smoke is too heavy. The air quality index was more than 190, one of the worst in the world.
Authorities in Australia’s largest city have had to refrain from further controlled fires to prevent worse bush fires in the summer months. According to the fire brigade, light wind and nocturnal inversion weather were responsible for the smoke in lower-lying parts of the city. During the day the smoke should clear, it was said.
Australia experienced the worst forest and bush fires in its history in the last months of 2019 and the first few months of 2020. They particularly raged in the east and south of the country. More than ten million hectares of land and more than 3,000 houses were destroyed. 33 people and an estimated more than a billion animals were killed.
