Sydney, Australia

The City of Sydney (CoS) sits on the southeast coast of Australia and serves as the capital of the state of New South Wales (NSW). It is alternatively known as “The Harbour City” or “Australia's Global City.” Besides the striking Sydney Opera House and the graceful arch of the Harbour Bridge, another image of Sydney emerged in September 2009, as a dust storm of epic proportions engulfed the city. The sky turned red, as particulate matter pollution reached 1,500 times its normal level and 75,000 tons of dust per hour rained into the Tasman Sea. For Sidneysiders, the event amplified the urgency of implementing their quest to become an environmentally sustainable community, but it was not the only prompt that year. The years from 1991–2000 ...