The smoke haze from fires across Queensland and New South Wales has left the air quality in Brisbane worse than Beijing, whose air is deemed as ‘unhealthy’.
According to The World Air Quality Index, the air quality is currently rated as very unhealthy over many areas in Brisbane.
Jonty Hall from the Bureau of Meteorology says a breeze is “recirculating all the smoke off the northern NSW fires and sort of pushed it out to sea… and this little south easterly this morning has brought it all back in from over the water”.
Queensland’s chief health officer Jeannette Young has issued a formal alert and is urging everyone to stay indoors for the next 24 to 48 hours.