The smoke blanketing Sydney is a "public health emergency," according to a coalition of Australian doctors and researchers who say climate change has helped fuel the wildfires that have produced the unprecedented haze.
Air pollution across Australia's most-populous city and parts of the eastern state of New South Wales have reached levels as much as 11 times higher than what is considered the threshold for "hazardous" conditions, the group said. It called on state and Australian government officials to "implement measures to help alleviate the health and climate crisis."
Climate change is worsening many extreme weather events, including drought and heat waves that can predispose devastating wildfires, according to the coalition of 22 health and medical bodies, which includes the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and Public Health Association of Australia.