美国有线新闻 CNN 澳大利亚山火肆虐 致空气污染和断电

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A resident of Sydney, Australia says at one point this week she thought her house was on fire. It wasn't but as the smoke blew into Sydney from the bushfires burning nearby, air quality dropped to hazardous¹ levels. Some Australians started complaining of burning eyes and the symptoms of asthma² and a haze³ has settled over Australia's largest city. The state it's in, New South Wales, is home to almost 8 million people. It's been dealing⁴ with bushfires for much of this month. They've destroyed hundreds of homes and killed four people. And more than 1,300 firefighters are still fighting the blazes in New South Wales and in the state that forms its northern border Queensland.

Meantime, one state west in South Australia more than 100 schools have closed because of incredibly dangerous conditions. The South Australian of Meteorology says any fires that start will be extremely hard to control. A total ban on starting new fires is in place. And like the ongoing⁵ power shutoffs we've told you about in California, electricity has been switched off to more than 10,000 people in South Australia. Officials don't want equipment starting any new bushfires. About 2.5 million acres of land have burned so far. It's late springtime in Australia when the region is prone⁶ to wildfires and high temperatures, strong winds and an ongoing drought are only making conditions more dangerous. Forecasters predict that Thursday will be another hot and dangerous day with windy conditions on the eastern part of the continent.