The New South Wales fires impacted travel and tourism in Australia, people saw the effects and damage in areas that they visited.
People such as senior Jadzia “Jazzy” Duarte experienced the effects of Australia and the countless mileage of fires.
Images Provided by Duarte
Throughout her time there she could see the haze littering the air upon arrival in Sydney as well as smokestacks rising through the sky. While in the city, rain fall was minimal, hitting the city and nearby areas, but impacted the air quality.
“I could see improved air quality after the rain,” said the environmental science and policy major.
During December these mild rains improved the air quality to help people breath and see clearly. Though these are not as extreme as the current rains.
Throughout her trip, Duarte’s experience was initially that of travel and tourism rather than volunteering. Given the amount of time she had in Sydney, she sought out to find opportunities to volunteer, primarily using social media.
“I wasn’t able to, but the passion was still there,” said Duarte.
Though Duarte was unable to volunteer, her trip there was an emotional one for her. She explained that seeing the environment impacted so much, that it hurt her.
As she is majoring in environmental science, she explained that she took these fires as a call for attention and advocacy to hold people accountable for their actions and to see the repercussions of their actions.
Monday, Feb. 10, it was reported that 15.4 inches of rainfall hit Sydney, causing flash flooding and emergency evacuations. The fires have started coming to an end.
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