Smoke

• Smoke from hundreds of active Canadian wildfires has blanketed the US Northeast, Great Lakes, and Mid-Atlantic regions, pushing air pollution to dangerous levels. • The toxic haze has caused widespread disruptions to daily life, including the cancellation or modification of sporting events and transportation delays. • This environmental crisis has reignited political tensions between Washington and Ottawa regarding cross-border disaster management and the urgent need to address climate change.

Poor air quality from wildfires continues to plague New York City as neighborhoods hit by thunderstormsSaturday is delivering a double dose of dangerous weather across the north-eastern US, with smoky skies from Canadian wildfires giving way to severe thunderstorms that have already triggered a flash flood warning as torrential rain pounds parts of the region.After a brief break on Friday, smoke from the wildfires moved back into New York City and surrounding communities on Saturday, sending air quality back into unhealthy levels. Continue reading...

Rain could alleviate conditions in mid-Atlantic and north-east, with World Cup final expected to go ahead on SundayWarnings of dangerous conditions are expected to remain in place on Saturday across swathes of the US, amid uncertainty about where the heavy wildfire smoke swirling from the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of Minnesota will head next.Some parts of the US mid-Atlantic and north-east regions will continue to endure poor air quality until Saturday afternoon, where there is a high chance of thunderstorms, which could bring some reprieve from the poor air but come with other risks like flash flooding and high winds. Meanwhile, parts of the midwest and Great Lakes regions will continue to see dangerous air quality. Continue reading...

Fires are also blazing across the US and the Trump administration has repealed several climate protectionsUS Republicans are threatening to sanction Canada and Canadian government officials after smoke from devastating wildfires has drifted across huge swathes of the US, creating hazy conditions and dangerous air quality for tens of millions of Americans.Donald Trump on ⁠Friday blamed ⁠his country’s northern neighbor for ​the smoke spreading from ⁠wildfires and said he planned to call ​Mark Carney, the Canadian prime ‌minister, ‌ to ‌ask about Ottawa’s plans for dealing with the blazes. Continue reading...

109 million people face another day of poor air quality as smoke from blazes in Ontario drifts over the USSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Tens of millions of Americans face another day of smoky skies, irritated eyes and bad air quality, as Canadian wildfire smoke spread again over huge swathes of the US, affecting around 109 million people across the midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east.The pungent wildfire blanketed cities such as Chicago and Detroit, where residents on Friday were warned to stay indoors and reduce activity levels after the air quality index reached a “hazardous” 361, according to the government website AirNow. Continue reading...

Millions of Americans face air quality alerts from Minnesota to New York as authorities urge people to stay indoorsSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email Smoke from wildfires burning in south-central Canada and parts of Minnesota is spreading across the US, prompting air quality alerts in more than 20 states with millions of Americans expected to face unhealthy air conditions this week.The smoke from the more than 180 active wildfires in northern Ontario briefly made Toronto’s air quality among the worst in the world on Wednesday. By Wednesday night, the smoke had spread across several US states, from Minnesota, where multiple wildfires are also burning, to New York, blanketing the skies in haze and worsening air quality. Continue reading...

Suspicions grow in Lanarkshire that local people have been misled on supposed benefits of the huge developmentRevealed: landmark Scottish AI project has no prospect of meeting renewables promiseWhat are Britain’s AI growth zones and are the plans feasible or ‘complete bunk’?The promise was that a Scottish community would be transformed by massive investment and empowered to chase “the jobs of the future”. Instead, local people in Lanarkshire fear they may have to sell their properties and lose green belt land because of the errors of a badly planned AI datacentre complex, even as those jobs and investments never arrive.Late last year, representatives of Oakes Energy Services began to knock on doors in Newarthill, a village east of Glasgow. In letters reviewed by the Guardian, they invited residents to individual meetings. They told them about plans for a solar farm, say local people, and made offers: free solar panels, tree planting, or even cash for their properties. Continue reading...