Recently, my home state of Victoria has been beset by ferocious bushfires. Approximately 7000 people have lost their homes with a death toll of 200 and climbing. Initially our Summer was quite mild, but by the second month it had kicked into top gear. Through mid to late January and then into February we had what became one of the hottest weeks on record, with days of temperatures over 43 degrees Celsius. We actually hit the record high of something like 45.6 degrees.
Smoke from country bushfires lingers over the city of Melbourne.
This extremely hot weather combined with a lengthy period without rain became the perfect combination for an absolutely terrible bushfire. Even today, over two weeks later the smoke still lingers in the sky.
The sky in Melbourne for this past week has resembled how the sky in China looks practially every day. The horizon a constant grey haze which leads into a light blue grey sky. On the heaviest smoke day, there was no cloud definition; just like China. The biggest difference however was in China, the visibility is 100 times worse. In Melbourne, despite the haze, you can still see a very long way; in China – it gets so smoggy it’s just outright disgusting.
Smoke from factorys and man made pollutants lingers over China..permanantly.
Tags: China, haze, Melbourne, pollution, smog, summer, Victorian bushfires
Life After China 
February 22, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Of the countries I have lived in I miss the Far Eastern countries the most, especially Korea. How long can you immerses yourself in a foreign culture without becoming totally absorbed into it?
February 22, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Sorry, that should have said, ‘immerse”
February 23, 2009 at 12:35 am
That’s exactly how I feel. While it was difficult living there, I feel like there’s a huge part of me that’s still there. I miss it, I really do.