NSW has succumbed to the highest levels of air pollution from smoke ever recorded, as Sydneysiders wake to air quality conditions worse than Shenzhen, China.
Air quality in the harbour city was ranked ninth poorest in the world on Friday when compared with other cities, with the visibility index at every suburban monitoring station reaching "hazardous" levels
The Environment, Energy and Science unit of the NSW government said the past two months "have been the dustiest on record".
Smoke-related particulate pollution, including those below 2.5 microns in size – known as PM2.5, which can be absorbed into the bloodstream – has also been off the charts.