Air quality in Gosford

How bad is the air quality in Gosford?

Gosford is a city within the Central Coast area of New South Wales’ east coast, lying approximately 76 kilometres north from Sydney. The principal city of the Broken Bay area, Gosford also serves as the administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area. Like the rest of Australia and New South Wales, Gosford experiences relatively healthy air quality most of the year round, compared with global locations. However, this part of the world is also vulnerable to experience periodic extreme air pollution events, most often caused by occurrences such as bushfires and dust storms, which can temporarily elevate air pollution levels dramatically.

The main pollutants of concern in Gosford and broader New South Wales, are particulate matter and ozone. This is both due to the health hazards they represent to people worldwide, and because they most often exceed Australia’s national air quality standard guidelines at monitored sites within New South Wales. These standards are known as the National Environment Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure (Air NEPM), and were established in 1998 (with some subsequent revisions), as a way for the Australian government to benchmark the country’s air quality, and try to ensure it does not exceed limits deemed to minimise health risks to the population. Therefore, frequent exceedances indicate potential reason for concern, and highlight areas where air quality can be improved.

Real-time air quality information is reported within the dynamic Gosford air quality map at the top of this page, which incorporates satellite air pollution data, along with live wildfire updates. These can be followed any time on-the-go, together with a 7-day Gosford air quality forecast, using the IQAir AirVisual mobile air pollution app, to stay updated on changing conditions.

What are the health impacts of air pollution in Gosford?

Exposure to air pollution can cause a range of both short- and long-term health effects, even when found at relatively low concentrations such as in Gosford and New South Wales most of the year round. The World Health Organisation emphasises that there is no known “safe” limit of air pollution, particularly particle pollution, below which no negative health impacts may be observed.¹ Short-term exposure to particle pollution can lead to the irritation of eyes, nose and throat, coughing among other respiratory symptoms, shortness of breath, negative effects on the cardiovascular system, and aggravation of existing conditions such as asthma. Long-term exposure can increase the risk of developing diseases such as lung cancer, increased chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; referring to a group of diseases that can cause difficulty breathing, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema), as well as reduced lung function development in children and adults.²

Where does Gosford’s air pollution come from?

The major contributors to New South Wales particle pollution, including Gosford, stem from emissions from residential wood heating, coal mining, vehicle exhausts, electricity generation, industrial activities, and bushfires and planned burning, according to a report by the NSW government.² Some sources of local air pollution are predicted to worsen in future, along with future trends such as population growth and climate change affecting New South Wales. While population growth is anticipated to stimulate higher demand for energy production and private transportation, as well as increasing the number of people who can be exposed to air pollution, rising temperatures as part of global warming and climate change are also anticipated to exacerbate certain air pollution sources. These include the potential increase in airborne dust and worse dust storms with drier land, hotter and drier conditions enabling more severe wildfires, and hot sunny conditions also enabling higher generation of ozone.

Is Gosford affected by fire?

Australian locations have long been accustomed to experiencing the effects of wildfires, either by having fires blaze directly into a city, or suffering from windblown fire smoke travelling from fires nearby. Such fires are most frequently begun as a result of natural causes, such as a lightning stroke; but they can also be started as a result of human actions, both accidentally (such as via an accidental spark) or deliberately, through planned hazard reduction burns or arson. During the summer of 2019-2020, Australia experienced one of its worst fire seasons on record, which came to be known as the “black summer”. The black summer’s fires were exceptionally damaging due to several months of record-breaking high temperatures, drought, and low rainfall in the time preceding the fire season. New South Wales was the worst hit by the fires of any state, tragically claiming 26 of the total 33 fatalities nationwide directly from the fires, with 2,448 homes destroyed and 5.5 million hectares of land burnt by the fires.³ Gosford was impacted by severe smoke as a result of the fires, along with several other New South Wales locations. During December 2019, several fires burning to the west and north-west of Gosford, in the Wollemi and Yengo national parks, combined to form a single “mega-fire”, presenting a 60 kilometre long fire front.⁴

The health impact of smoke coming from such extensive fires should not be underestimated. While the black summer led to 33 recorded deaths as a direct result of the blazes, a study in the Medical Journal of Australia estimates that exposure to the fire smoke across Australia led to a further 417 excess deaths, 1,124 additional hospitalisations for cardiovascular problems, 2,027 extra hospital admissions for respiratory problems, and an additional 1,305 emergency department visits related to asthma.⁵

Live Gosford wildfire information is reported within the Gosford air quality map at the top of this page.

What is Gosford doing about air pollution?

The New South Wales government is responsible to monitor air quality levels across the state, to try to ensure the state’s air pollution complies with the Australian NEPM standards, and take remedial action where necessary to improve air quality. To do this, the NSW government has established a state-wide network of air quality monitors at key sites. However, there is currently no governmental monitoring station located at Gosford; the closest government monitoring station is measuring the town of Wyong’s air quality, approximately 20 kilometres north east from Gosford in the Central Coast area.

The Central Coast Council local government, along with the NSW state government, is also responsible for providing information and helping to achieve the objectives of Australia’s broader air quality management legislation. The Central Coast Council’s efforts include providing information on responsible backyard burning, and appropriate usage of wood heaters, to try to minimise excessive smoke coming from these and causing neighbourhood nuisances.⁶

+ Article resources

[1] World Health Organisation. “Ambient (outdoor) air pollution”. WHO website, May 2, 2018.
[2] NSW Government. “Consultation paper: Clean Air for NSW”. NSW Government EPA website, 2016.
[3] Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience. “New South Wales, July 2019 – March 2020. Bushfires – black summer”. Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub, n.d.
[4] Benedict Brook and AAP. “NSW Rural Fire Service map shows massive extent of bushfires”. News Com AU website, December 12, 2019.
[5] Nicolas Borchers Arriagada et al. “Unprecedented smoke-related health burden associated with the 2019-20 bushfires in eastern Australia”. Medical Journal of Australia 213(6): 282-283, August, 2020. doi: 10.5694/mja2.50545
[6] Central Coast Council. “Neighbourhood concerns”. Central Coast Council website, November 19, 2020.