Smoke from the continuing, disastrous bushfires ringing Australia has delivered the country’s capital Canberra its worst air quality on record—a stark reminder to the government that the crisis is not ending anytime soon.
“This is an exceptional time for Canberra,” Australia’s acting chief health officer, Dr. Paul Dugdale, told the Guardian, “usually our air quality is among the best in the world.”
According to the Guardian:
Bushfires in Australia have been burning for months, with no end in sight. The crisis has only gotten worse in recent weeks as the flames encircle the country.
As Common Dreams reported on Monday, residents of the Victoria town of Mallacoota were forced to flee into the water as the fires consumed their homes.
On Wednesday, the Australian Navy mobilized to bring aid to those trapped in Victoria.
Two ships now headed for the southeastern state “will be able to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief support including beach recovery of isolated civilians and shore logistic support to isolated people,” said a Defence Force spokesperson.
Images from Canberra on Wednesday showed a hazy, grey-yellow New Year’s sky and low visibility on the ground.
Photojournalist Matthew Abbot, on the ground in Australia, noted the timing of the fires and the new decade in a tweet.
“My last day of the decade felt like the apocalypse,” said Abbot.
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