By Adam Voiland 24 August 2018 (NASA) – Take a deep breath. Even if the air looks clear, it is nearly certain that you will inhale millions of solid particles and liquid droplets. These ubiquitous specks of matter are known as aerosols, and they can be found in the air over oceans, deserts, mountains, forests, […]
By Ryan Rumbolt 23 August 2018 (Calgary Herald) – Just days after smashing the previous record for the number of smoky days in Calgary, Environment Canada issued another severe air quality warning for the city and many communities in southern Alberta.Skies briefly cleared in the city before another advisory was issued on Wednesday. As of […]
By Karen Graham 21 August 2018 (Digital Journal) – While British Columbia Premier John Horgan was touring the wildfire-ravaged, smoke-filled area around Prince George Tuesday morning. Al Beaver, an independent risk management expert who worked on fire management for governments in Canada and Australia was speaking with The Current’s guest host Ioanna Roumeliotis.Flanked by the […]
By Grace Segers 16 August 2018 (CBS News) – Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke suggested that climate change may have a role in the recent wildfires that have ravaged California. When asked by CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang whether he accepted that climate change was part of the problem, Zinke said “of course.” He also acknowledged […]
By Umair Irfan 21 August 2018(Vox) – Ash and smoke are choking Seattle’s air for the second week in a row, as wildfires smolder in the Cascades and in British Columbia.As of Tuesday morning, the Air Quality Index in Seattle was at 181, a rating classified as “unhealthy.” In parts of the city, the index […]
By Kathryn Hansen 17 August 2018(NASA) – In mid-August 2018, deadly blazes across the western United States and Canada continued to destroy structures and disrupt the lives of millions of people. But you did not have to be close to the fires to witness its effects. These images show just how far across North America […]
20 August 2018 (The Canadian Press) – Some headway was made over the weekend battling hundreds of blazes across British Columbia, according to crews battling the wildfires, but thick smoke continues to blanket the province and create challenges for communities far from any flames. The B.C. Wildfire Service says there weren’t many lightning strikes last […]
By Scott Sistek 20 August 2018 SEATTLE (KOMO News) – Air quality in some areas of Western Washington has degraded from “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy,” especially in the South Sound as wildfire smoke from British Columbia continues to pour into the region.As of 8 a.m. Monday, monitoring sites in Tacoma, Auburn, and Port Angeles reported […]
By Jonathan Watts 20 August 2018 (The Guardian) – Summer weather patterns are increasingly likely to stall in Europe, North America, and parts of Asia, according to a new climate study that explains why Arctic warming is making heatwaves elsewhere more persistent and dangerous. Rising temperatures in the Arctic have slowed the circulation of the […]
By Cliff Mass 19 August 2018 (Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog) – During the next 12 hours there should be a major influx of wildfire smoke into the lower elevations of western Washington. The MODIS satellite imagery around noon showed very dense smoke over eastern WA and the north Cascades, with lesser but substantial […]