Smoke in New South Wales

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captured the plumes of smoke from the bushfires in Australia. The recent blazes triggered a ‘hazardous’ air quality warning for Sydney – the highest level on Australia’s Air Quality Index.

In this image, captured on 21 November 2019 at 00:02 GMT (11:02 local time), smoke from the Gospers Mountain bushfires, northwest of Sydney, can be seen drifting southwards. Residents with respiratory conditions were advised by authorities to stay indoors, as over 50 people have been treated owing to complications from the smoke.

According to the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, as of 21:00 local time, there were over 60 bush and grass fires burning in New South Wales, of which over 20 still need to be contained. In Victoria, another 60 blazes are burning – although the exact number is unknown as new fires have been sparked by recent lightning.

Hundreds of bushfires have been burning this month in Australia, with the greatest damage seen in New South Wales and Queensland.