• Tweeter

  • republish

Passers-by in front of Parliament in Canberra forced to wear masks due to air pollution from the fires, January 5, 2020. Getty Images

In Australia, smoke from raging fires covers some cities, causing pollution levels to explode. This weekend, Canberra, the capital, was placed at the top of the most polluted cities because of the fires that surround it. Sydney suffocates and the New Zealand sky has turned orange.

In a park in Sydney, sportsmen jogging as usual. Air quality has improved slightly in recent days, but the situation remains very volatile with the fires .

The toxic cloud that has covered the city in recent weeks can come back any moment. “ In recent weeks, the air has been really toxic. I have breathing problems, I had to wear a mask. It really affects people. It is true that pollution is generally high here, but with the fires it has been terrible in recent times, "says Sue at the microphone of our special correspondent , Murielle Paradon .

Children are particularly affected. Whether it is during school or as it is right now, during the holidays, they suffer the consequences of poor air quality. “ As a teacher, I saw that it affected children at school. We couldn't get them out, says Sharon . At the end of the year, the recreations were canceled due to poor air quality. My own children can no longer play baseball as usual, the games have been canceled for 6 or 8 weeks, again because of the air quality . ”

The situation is worrying in major Australian cities. The levels of fine particles have exploded, which can present a real danger to the population.

New Zealand suffers consequences

Neighboring New Zealand is also suffering the consequences of these fires. These colored the sky of the two islands in ocher and in certain regions, such as in the city of Christchurch, the inhabitants could smell a burning smell, reports our correspondent in Wellington, Richard Tindiller .

But it is in the South Island that the effects are most surprising. On the famous Franz Josef glacier, which attracts several thousand tourists a year, hikers were surprised to find that the dust from giant bush fires had transformed the snow, usually immaculate white, into caramel color.

Pest fires in Australia could therefore have a detrimental effect on tourism in New Zealand, a major sector for the country's economy. Especially since summer is just beginning in Oceania.

Smoke from Australian fires has reached Chile and Argentina

Fumes from the gigantic fires ravaging Australia have reached Chile and Argentina after traveling more than 12,000 km over the Pacific, the meteorological services of these two South American countries announced on Monday.

At the start of the day, " the sun (has been marked) with red tones due to a cloud of smoke from the fires " from Australia, Patricio Urra, an official at the Chilean meteorological institute, told AFP. The smoke cloud is located at 6,000 meters above sea level.

At the same time, the National Meteorological Service of Argentina (SMN) released satellite images showing the smoke cloud " carried by front systems moving from west to east ". " What consequence can this have?" None really important, only a slightly reddish sunset and sun , "said the SMN on Twitter.

El humo de los incendios de #Australia llegó nuevamente a #Argentina. Es transportado por los sistemas frontalales that desplazan de oeste hacia el este. ¿Qué consecuencia puede tener? Ninguna muy relevante, solo an atardecer y a Sol un poco más rojizo. ¿Por qué? Abrimos hilo pic.twitter.com/k6mLImCE2h

SMN Argentina (@SMN_Argentina) January 6, 2020