The United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said yesterday that smoke caused by disastrous forest fires to which Australia is exposed has passed 11,000 km across the Pacific and reached South America, while the death toll from forest fires has risen to 26 people.
On Monday, massive smoke plumes reached Argentina and central Chile, where the clear sky looked gray last Tuesday due to pollution.
Authorities say that smoke is not a health hazard in these countries, unlike Australia, where air pollution has reached dangerous levels.
This comes at a time when the number of deaths due to devastating forest fires in Australia since it began last September has risen to 26, after confirming the death of one of the employees of the Forest Fire Department yesterday.
The man died as a result of an accident he suffered while fighting forest fires in Victoria State on January 3.
Firefighting teams in southeast Australia benefited from the coldest weather yesterday to control fires and conduct limited burning operations under control to deprive large fires of their fuel before more severe weather conditions occur in the coming days.
More than 120 fires continue throughout NSW, of which 50 are out of control. While there are 40 ongoing fires in Victoria, with about 10 of them starting to merge with each other.
120
A fire continues throughout NSW, of which 50 are out of control.