Australia wildfire smoke turns sky orange in NZ, seen in parts of South America

Smoke produced by the devastating fires in Australia have blown to New Zealand, and has spotted in parts of South America as crews continue to battle the enormous infernos.

The quality of air in Australia‘s capital was the worst of any major city in the world on Monday as smoke drifted in from fires, prompting shops and offices to tell staff to stay home and the national gallery to close its doors to protect its art.

While not in any imminent danger from fire, Canberra sits between blazes ravaging the east coast and others inland, and its skies have been darkened by smoke this week.

Air quality readings show the smoke was at hazardous levels early on Monday ⁠— and the worst among all major cities ⁠— before the wind dispersed some of it during the day.

NASA images have shown smoke billowing from Australia’s east coast drifting over New Zealand and even reaching South America in less than a week.

On Sunday, smoke from the fires blew nearly 2,000 kilometres to Auckland.

According to New Zealand’s Met Service, smoke from the bushfires was seen over Whangaroa in the Northland region.

The smoke from the fires turned the skies in Auckland a bright orange.

Images posted to social media by residents captured the ominous-looking sky.

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The American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Monday released satellite images, saying two areas of smoke originating from the bushfires were “in the process of circumnavigating the planet.”

In a tweet on Monday, Joshua Stevens, data visualization and cartography lead at NASA Earth, said smoke from the wildfires has been reaching South America since early November.

“But that the fires are still raging, so intensely, for this smoke to still be crossing the Pacific at such an amount is just astounding,” he wrote.

On Monday, the National Gallery of Australia said it would not open in part to protect works being shown in its Matisse and Picasso exhibition, including some borrowed from the Musée Picasso in Paris.

“Closing our doors allows us to mitigate any risk to the public, staff and works of art on display,” the gallery said.

The exhibition includes Picasso’s portraits of his wife, Olga, and lover, Marie-Therese, both on loan from Paris, it said.

Southern summer fires have devastated more than 8 million hectares (19.8 million acres) of Australia’s bushland and killed at least 24 people and countless animals.

1:26 Bushfires in Australia: What ignited the deadly crisis

Acrid, yellowish smoke has blanketed towns and cities, raising concern about public health.

Canberra health authorities warned the city’s 400,000 residents to avoid outside physical activity. Many businesses and government departments, including the Department of Home Affairs, ordered non-essential staff to stay home, media reported.

-With files from Global News