The big smoke: in cities it's easy to ignore nature - until things go wrong

As Sydney's bushfire-induced haze shows, far from being insulated, urban areas are hugely vulnerable to the climate crisisMore than once in the last few weeks I have woken with the fleeting fear my house is on fire.The unprecedented, severe early fire season devouring great swathes of bushland up and down Australia's east coast has sent rolling waves of bushfire smoke across Sydney. It has been seeping through open windows and into air-conditioning systems, clinging to hanging washing and the backs of our throats, shrouding the tops of buildings and obliterating views. Continue reading...