Beautiful above, below it’s a choke for Sydney
From a distance, it was almost breathtakingly beautiful, as an opaque haze embraced Sydney.
From a distance, it was almost breathtakingly beautiful, as an opaque haze embraced Sydney’s CBD and nestled across surrounding suburbs.
On the ground, the smog was far less alluring. As the city’s residents awoke on Tuesday morning, they could have been forgiven for thinking they were in Beijing or Kolkata — but the truth is, it was far worse than that.
READ MORE: Wollemi National Park fire upgraded to emergency
By 9am, Sydney had the ignominy of having the worst air quality in the world. NSW Environment recorded a “hazardous” reading of PM 2.5 particulates in the city’s northwest of 186 parts per million, almost 20 times worse than Jakarta’s polluted skies. Paramedics treated more than 50 people for breathing-related incidents and asthma, as the city sweltered in temperatures as high as 38C.
The thick haze came as high winds dragged smoke from a raging fire in Wollemi National Park, northwest of the city, across much of the region.
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