Thousands of people rally in smoke-choked Sydney as bushfires burn

Wed, Dec 11, 2019
By publisher
1 MIN READ

Foreign

THOUSANDS of people have gathered in Sydney asking the government to take action on climate change as the city remains blanketed by smoke pollution and as devastating bushfires continue to burn.

More than 7,000 people rallied at Sydney’s Town Hall on Wednesday as #SydneyisChoking started trending on Twitter.

The organisers said that the protest rally was organised to pressure the government to take urgent climate action and increase the funding for resource-depleted fire services.

It also wants the government to address serious issues raised due to the toxic smoke billowing around the city.

For weeks, a thick blanket of smoke has choked Sydney due to several massive bushfires around the harbour city.

It has resulted in air pollution 11 times worse than the typical hazardous level.

Many attendees were wearing face masks, a recent trend to cope with the smoke pollution in Australia’s most populated city.

Protesters displayed signs reading: `Fucking Do Something’, `For my grandkids’, and `Climate change is a public health emergency’.

A senator with the Greens Party, Mehreen Faruqi said on Twitter while attending the rally: “This is a climate emergency. Sydney is choking.

“NSW is burning. We demand action on the #ClimateEmergency.’’ (dpa/NAN)

– Dec. 11, 2019 @ 13:35 GMT |

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