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Friday, Sep 25 2009
Visible from space: The wall of dust marching across the Australian outback to turn the skies over Sydney
By Richard Shears
Last updated at 3:20 PM on 24th September 2009
It is a city that usually wakes to brilliant blue skies. But dawn broke with a dramatic difference in
Pulling back their blinds, residents were greeted with an eerie reddish-orange cloud cloaking all around them.
Early-morning commuters stared in disbelief at the Sydney Opera House and
Apocalyptic: The dust quite literally formed a wall that marched over parts of
The outback dust storm has swept across eastern
It's also been wreaking havoc, disrupting transport and placing health authorities on alert for widespread respiratory illness.
International flights were diverted from
Scroll down to see video
Red dawn: The Sydney Opera House at sunrise yesterday, right, as a red cloud of dust shrouded the city, and, left, how the iconic venue normally looks
Crimson tide: A surfer heads for the water as a dust storm blankets
Visible from space: The wall of dust marching across the Australian outback to turn the skies over Sydney blood red
By Richard Shears
Last updated at 3:20 PM on 24th September 2009
It is a city that usually wakes to brilliant blue skies. But dawn broke with a dramatic difference in Sydney yesterday.
Pulling back their blinds, residents were greeted with an eerie reddish-orange cloud cloaking all around them.
Early-morning commuters stared in disbelief at the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, whose normally striking outlines were rendered ghostly by the shroud of dust.
Visible from space: A beige wall of dust can be seen stretching over Queensland and out to see in this Nasa image taken yesterday
Apocalyptic: The dust quite literally formed a wall that marched over parts of Queensland, such as in this image taken on Broken Hill
The outback dust storm has swept across eastern Australia, shrouding Sydney in a dramatic red glow.
It's also been wreaking havoc, disrupting transport and placing health authorities on alert for widespread respiratory illness.
International flights were diverted from Sydney, ferries on the harbour were suspended, and motorists were warned to take care on roads as visibility was dramatically reduced.
Scroll down to see video
Red dawn: The Sydney Opera House at sunrise yesterday, right, as a red cloud of dust shrouded the city, and, left, how the iconic venue normally looks
Crimson tide: A surfer heads for the water as a dust storm blankets Sydney's Bondi Beach yesterday
Like an image of a sci-fi film, two swimmers trudge back from the sea over Bondi Beach
However, the eerie scenes haven't caused all activities to cease - the iconic Bondi beach still had its surfers and children continued to play on swings in the city's parks.
The storm, which blacked out the mining town of Broken Hill on Tuesday before sweeping east, was caused by a major cold front whipping up the dust from the drought-stricken hinterland.
The gale force winds - measuring in excess of 60mph - also fanned bush fires in the state. By noon on Wednesday the storm, carrying an estimated 5 million tonnes of dust, had spread to the southern part of Australia's tropical state of Queensland.
The dust storms stripped valuable topsoil from farmlands. At one stage up to 75,000 tonnes of dust per hour was blown across Sydney and dumped in the Pacific Ocean.
'We've got a combination of factors which have been building for ten months already - floods, droughts and strong winds,' said Craig Strong from DustWatch at Griffith University in Queensland.
'Add to these factors the prevailing drought conditions that reduce the vegetation cover and the soil surface is at its most vulnerable to wind erosion.'
Seeing red: The famous Sydney Harbour Bridge is shrouded by sand carried by high winds from the red Outback earth on the world's driest continent
Residents of Sydney cover their mouths as health authorities warned the dust could cause serious breathing problems, and one passerby leaves a message a car windscreen
'This is unprecedented. We are seeing earth, wind and fire together,' said Dick Whitaker from TV's The Weather Channel.
Health authorities, meanwhile, have urged people with asthma or breathing difficulties to stay indoors. The official air quality index for New South Wales recorded pollutant levels as high as 4,164 in Sydney. A level above 200 is considered hazardous.
In Sydney's central business district the dust has even begun to set off smoke alarms.
'People at risk are children, elderly, pregnant women, people with heart and lung diseases. Dust particles can increase the risk of people with these conditions becoming unwell,' said Wayne Smith from the New South Wales state health department.
Sydney residents told local radio that they woke to scenes from a Hollywood disaster movie, while many contacted emergency services fearing a major bush fire in the city.
Orange dawn: A boat chugs across Sydney Harbour with the famous opera house shrouded in dust
Glowing joy: Ariella, six, and her sister Romy, three, enjoy an early morning swing amid the in the Balmain area of the city while, right, the dust begins to settle on cars by the Circular Quay ferry terminal
Covered: The Sydney Harbour Bridge seen swamped by the dust clouds
'It did feel like Armageddon because when I was in the kitchen looking out the skylight, there was this red, red glow coming through,' one resident told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.
The blanket of dust stretched hundreds of miles along the coast, from the coal port of Newcastle north of Sydney to the steel city of Wollongong in the south, and hundreds of miles inland to farming towns like Dubbo and Tamworth.
Weather officials said the blanket of dust would remain for several hours, until winds eased.
Further cold fronts are expected later in the week and could bring not only more strong winds, with the chance of dust storms, but also snow falls higher up on Australia's mountain region, said weather officials.
From the air: An airline passenger took this photo of the dust blanketing Sydney
Further images taken by air passengers show the extent and intensity of the dust cloud which is choking Sydney
Dust storms in Australia are not uncommon but are usually restricted to the inland. Occasionally, during widespread drought, dust storms reach coastal areas. Australia is the driest inhabited continent and only Antarctica is drier.
The NSW state government recently cut the state's 2009/10 wheat crop estimate by 20 per cent because of hot, dry weather across the grain belt.
The country is one of the most vulnerable nations to climate change, but also the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter per capita as it relies on coal-fired power stations for the bulk of its electricity.
Australia is battling one of its worst droughts and weather officials say an El Nino - a periodic change in the atmosphere and ocean of the Pacific - is slowly developing which will mean drier conditions for eastern states.
The country is one of the most vulnerable nations to climate change, but also the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter per capita as it relies on coal-fired power stations for the bulk of its electricity.
Scientists are reluctant to directly link climate change with extreme weather events such as storms and drought, saying these fluctuate according to atmospheric conditions, but green groups link the two in their calls for action.
But crop analysts said the storm is unlikely to have an immediate impact on wheat crops, in the country's second-largest grain producing state. The crop is due to be harvested next month.
'Like red, red Armagedon': The dust storm's movement across south eastern Australia is shown in a satelite image
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