CANBERRA, Jan. 2-- While some big cities in Australia celebrated the new year of 2020 with fireworks and performances, the country's capital is chocking in smokes from bushfires. According to the Nine News, Canberra's air quality is now the worst out of all major cities in the world. For two consecutive days, a global air quality index, the AirVisual, ranked Canberra's air as the global worst. The Nine News cited local health authorities as saying that the air quality in Canberra is "more than 10 times hazardous levels" and "having peaked at more than 20 times hazardous levels on Wednesday." On social media such as Twitter, people posted pictures to complain about the smoke. "The smoke in Canberra right now is so intense that it's hard to see even INSIDE our sealed off houses and apartments," said Max Black on Twitter. Tara Ellen described the smoke on New Year's day as "an apocalyptic start to 2020 in Canberra." "I am hiding from the smoke inside next to the air purifier. Looks like the end of the world." "The Canberra Hospital has had to cancel some medical/diagnostic procedures due to smoke impacting the building and equipment," tweeted a Dr. Liz Allen on Thursday morning. "I'm told MRI machines can't operate, won't be operating today or tomorrow." Some local residents began wearing facial masks, such as some staff wearing Transport Canberra vest who work outdoors. Thursday marks the start of Summernats, Australia's most iconic automotive festival. Many people who went to the street for the City Cruise put on their masks, including reporters and photographers of some Australian media. |