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wildfires

Wildfires Have Erased Two Decades’ Worth of Air Quality Gains in U.S., Study Finds

In recent years, many people have learned first-hand how destructive wildfires can be. Even if they weren’t forced to evacuate their homes, millions in Canada and the United States have had to breathe acrid air polluted with wildfire smoke. By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes A new study has…

Landmark ‘David and Goliath’ Youth Climate Trial Begins

In an “unprecedented” climate change case, six young people from areas in Portugal affected by heat waves and wildfires took 32 European governments to court today, arguing that the countries’ failure to take swift action on the climate crisis violated their human rights. By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes The European Court of…

Smoke From Canada’s Wildfires Prompts U.S. Air Quality Alerts for 70 Million People in 32 States

Canada is currently experiencing its worst wildfire season ever, and on Monday smoke from the hundreds of blazes once again drifted across the border into the United States, prompting another round of air quality warnings. By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes The new bout of smoke and…

‘Climate Change Is Here,’ Says Oregon Governor, ‘And We Have to Take Action’

As wildfires devour her state, the Democrat declares that the climate emergency is “like a hammer hitting us in the head.” By Jessica Corbett With the massive Bootleg Fire less than half contained and having burned nearly 409,000 acres in Oregon, Democratic Gov.…

Argentines campaign for laws protecting the environment on Twitter

Wildfires have been raging in central and northern Argentina for months where more than 400,000 hectares (988,422 acres), comparable in size to more than 560,000 soccer fields, have burned to date. According to the latest data from the National Fire Management Service, thirteen of Argentina’s twenty-three…

Moorland in UK remains scarred by wildfires

Emily Beament While the landscape might appear to have recovered, it’s just one kind of grass that has grown back – no heather, no moss, no flowers. Wildlife including short-eared owls, curlews and mountain hares have returned to moorland devastated…

More Than One Billion Animals Killed in Australia Wildfires Called a ‘Very Conservative’ Estimate

Chris Dickman of the University of Sydney said “without any doubt at all” the animal death toll has exceeded one billion. By Jake Johnson, staff writer – Common Dreams As Australia’s catastrophic wildfires rage on with no end in sight,…

The 2018 Firestorms: There is no Planet B

By Dr Andrew Glikson It takes only a spark, from a lightning or human ignition, to start a fire, but it involves high temperatures, a period of drought, a build-up of dry vegetation and strong winds to start a bush…