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The world has reacted to Australia being swallowed by flames

The world has watched in horror as bushfires continue on their war path through Australia, saying the nation is “choking” as it burns.

Natalie Brown and Adrianna Zappavigna
4 min read
December 9, 2019 - 7:15AM
Smoke haze from bushfires in New South Wales blankets the CBD in Sydney, Friday, December 6, 2019. Picture: AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi
Smoke haze from bushfires in New South Wales blankets the CBD in Sydney, Friday, December 6, 2019. Picture: AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi

Media outlets around the world continue to react to the dozens of blazes burning across the country with the New York Times taking aim at Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

With 96 bush and grass fires still burning in NSW - 47 of which are not contained - photos of Sydney’s sepia-toned sky and blood red sun continue to dominate social media feeds.

Global publications and angered readers have shown no mercy, blaming the Australian government and their failure to address the current climate crisis while calling the nation “the indirect architect of its own demise”.

In the midst of loss and tragedy for many Australian families, Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s leadership has been harshly spotlighted by international media.

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The thick grey smoke that has blanketed the city’s skyline and coast for days looks “as if the country were being devoured by a chemical reaction”, award-winning novelist Anna Funder described in The New York Times, writing that the failure of the government to acknowledge the current climate crisis “is literally choking our children”.

“The response has been to double down on denialism,” director of the Sydney Environment Institute at the University of Sydney, David Schlosberg, told the publication.

The New York Times said that Sydney was choking as Australia burned.
The New York Times said that Sydney was choking as Australia burned.

The author of the Times piece wrote that the government, in refusing to address the threat of climate change, is “favouring the country’s powerful fossil fuel industry over its largest city, as well as the rural areas where fires have already destroyed hundreds of homes”.

As the New York Times wrote, the Prime Minister has avoided addressing his inaction on climate change and instead, “he recommended downloading an app that tracks the bush fires”.

The article was flooded with angry Twitter comments, from Australian and international users who couldn’t contain their frustration.

“I would like an app that gives instant polling so the Government can see what we think of them,” wrote one reader.

Another added, “We feel you, signed California.”

Many have even begun drawing links between the Australian fires and those in California, highlighting a disparity in world coverage.

Smoke haze seen during a sunrise over inner west suburb of Erskineville in Sydney, NSW on December 6, 2019. Picture: Victoria Nielsen/news.com.au
Smoke haze seen during a sunrise over inner west suburb of Erskineville in Sydney, NSW on December 6, 2019. Picture: Victoria Nielsen/news.com.au

Readers of The Guardian have echoed the sentiment, with one responding to footage of the NSW “megafire” with: “Oh look. Scott Morrison’s climate policy in glorious technicolour” and another saying, “This looks like hell.”

“Here we are in the worst bushfire season we’ve ever seen, the biggest drought we’ve ever had, Sydney surrounded by smoke, and we’ve not heard a boo out of a politician addressing climate change,” climate scientist Sarah Perkins-Kilpatrick told the British publication.

“They’re burying their heads in the sand while the world is literally burning around them and that’s the scary thing. It’s only going to get worse.”

The Guardian's coverage of the bushfire crisis.
The Guardian's coverage of the bushfire crisis.
The Guardian has reported Australia is 'literally' burning.
The Guardian has reported Australia is 'literally' burning.

Asian publications like the Straits Times and South China Morning Post have written extensively about Sydney’s poor air quality, drawing comparisons between the city and Shanghai.

“The Australian city of Sydney is world famous for its shimmering harbour and clear blue skies,” the Straits Times wrote.

“Not this summer.”

The Straits Times has compared Sydney's air quality to Shanghai's.
The Straits Times has compared Sydney's air quality to Shanghai's.

According to health officials, the thick smoke haze has led to a 25 per cent increase in people presenting in emergency departments for asthma and breathing problems.

“Desperately sad,” commented one reader.

“The ‘lucky country’ no more.”

America’s ABC News shared footage of Sydney’s hazy conditions, prompting angry reactions from followers, who demanded that the government take responsibility.


CNN documented the nation’s tragic transformation - from blue skies to shades of grey - in a before and after comparison piece. The photos painted a grim picture of the “longest and most widespread” period of air pollution NSW has ever seen.

Desperate for people to understand a whole country is burning, a man posting under the name Nigel Lake on Twitter shared a stirring poem dedicated to our scorched country.

The prose was titled “How good are 90 bushfires?!” - a play on the climax of ScoMo’s victory speech in which he declared ‘How good is Australia!’

“Brilliant!!! Can’t stop crying and mourning for our beautiful land,” said one reader.

In a sea of images being posted online - many showing the devastation of the fires and the wall of flames our fire crews are up against - one furious Twitter user wrote, “I don’t want the Prime Minister’s thoughts and prayers.”

As one nation’s climate crisis burns bright, many have pointed to the potential damage caused in surrounding nations. As ash rained down on New Zealand’s glaciers - even turning some pink - many questioned whether the heat from ongoing fires would see “one climate disaster accelerate another”.

Former Pime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s words hit home, as he shared a photo of a smog-covered city on a flight back home. “I have flown back into Sydney many times but never to a sight like this,” he shared on Instagram.

“The reality of climate change - hotter and drier means more fires.”

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/how-the-world-has-reacted-to-sydney-smoke-haze/news-story/c6782de9b2782287740099cb42ac0176