Reuters reports that in addition to razing land and destroying infrastructure, Australia’s wildfires have had a major impact on air quality. Smoke has blanketed cities such as Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney over the past month, pushing air pollution levels off the charts. In the animation, Reuters visualized organic carbon released into the atmosphere during biomass burning to show the spread of smoke, using hourly readings from NASA’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office. This organic carbon contains a substantial portion of fine particles known by their size as PM2.5, which can have a major impact on health and climate.
Smoke from the fires had turned skies bright orange over Auckland in New Zealand, more than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from southeastern Australia, parts of which have been devastated by bushfires that have raged for months. On Dec. 7, U.N. body the World Meteorological Organization said brown sooty deposits had been reported on New Zealand’s glaciers, potentially accelerating the rate at which they are melting.
The tiny PM 2.5 particulate matter in the smoke can penetrate deep into the lungs and even enter the blood. Such particles have been linked to heart disease, strokes and cancer. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifications for 24-hour mean exposure to PM 2.5 show how bad the air quality is. A reading of anything above 250 micrograms is considered “hazardous,” the worst classification on the scale.
In Australia, air pollution readings in some towns have been off the charts. One station in Goulburn, New South Wales, recorded a reading of more than 2,000 micrograms. That is higher than data recorded in the Indian capital of Delhi during its heavily polluted winter season.
Many other towns in New South Wales experienced “hazardous” readings as the state grappled with the worst of the bushfires this season. The chart below shows all stations in the state.
Very informative website. A follow-on website provides details on eastern Australia:
https://graphics.reuters.com/AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-MAP/0100B4TW2NK/index.html
Sizing up Australia's bush fires: https://graphics.reuters.com/AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES-SCALE/0100B4VK2PN/index.html
More maps of the fires: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-australia-fires/
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