Smoke

Fires are also blazing across the US and the Trump administration has repealed several climate protectionsUS Republicans are threatening to sanction Canada and Canadian government officials after smoke from devastating wildfires has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...

• NASA is utilizing the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, and ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission to study smoke and aerosols during a record-breaking North American fire season. • The mission employs three specialized instruments, including the Hyper-Angle Rainbow Polarimeter 2 and the Spectro-polarimeter for Planetary Exploration, to analyze atmospheric composition. • According to project science lead Andrew Sayer, these tools provide critical data on aerosols from diverse regions to better understand their environmental impact.

Since 2015, destructive fires have undone years of effort to reduce ozone levels, underscoring a growing public health crisisThe highly destructive wildfires that have battered the US and North America in recent years have significantly increased emissions and been linked to tens of thousands of premature deaths, but their impact on air quality is greater than previously known, according to new research.A study published in Science on Thursday found that, since 2015, wildfires have reversed US progress toward ozone air quality standards, as the worsening pollution caused by wildfire smoke has undone years of efforts to reduce emissions. Ground-level ozone (O3) is created when pollutants from cars, refineries and industrial sources reacts with sunlight, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Continue reading...

Passenger on Flight VA 328 alerted the crew who responded by ‘containing the device’ before plane landedGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA Virgin Australia flight from Brisbane to Melbourne was met by firefighters after smoke was seen coming from a vape on board.Flight VA 328 landed safely and all passengers disembarked normally after a vape “activated” in the cabin shortly before landing at about 4pm on Sunday afternoon in Melbourne, Melbourne airport said. Continue reading...