Category Archives: Wildfires

Biden’s efforts to clear wildfire fuel in US forests are falling short

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Mixed early results from administration initiative as federal land managers skip at-risk communities for less threatened areas

Using chainsaws, heavy machinery and controlled burns, the Biden administration is trying to turn the tide on worsening wildfires in the US west through a multibillion-dollar cleanup of forests choked with dead trees and undergrowth.

Yet one year into what is envisioned as a decade-long effort, federal land managers are scrambling to catch up after falling behind on several of their priority forests for thinning even as they exceeded goals elsewhere. And they’ve skipped over some highly at-risk communities to work in less threatened areas, according to data obtained by the Associated Press, public records and congressional testimony.

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More than 50m Americans under severe storm threat after at least five people die in southern states – as it happened

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Extreme weather warnings issued across the US as more storms are expected; millions also warned of heatwave

Across the world this month, temperatures have accelerated to record-setting levels, an ominous sign in the climate crisis ahead of a gathering El Niño that could potentially propel 2023 to become the hottest year ever recorded.

Preliminary global average temperatures taken so far in June are nearly 1C (1.8F) above levels previously recorded for the same month, going back to 1979.

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US midwest braces for smoky skies as Canadian wildfires rage on

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Air quality alerts issued in Minnesota and Wisconsin with winds expected to blow airborne pollution from Ontario blazes south

The smoke-filled skies seen across US cities last week are set to make another appearance, as Canadian wildfires rage on and winds are bringing the airborne pollution south and again triggered fears over risks to health.

Air quality alerts were issued on Wednesday for the entire state of Minnesota and large parts of Wisconsin. This time, the culprit is a series of wildfires from the Canadian province of Ontario.

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Quebec fires weakened by rain as blazes in western Canada force many to flee

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More than 14,000 remain under evacuation as nearly 450 fires burned across the country on Sunday, with 220 out of control

Overdue rains and cooler temperatures have given Quebec fire crews a chance to launch their assault on dozens of wildfires, but the reprieve for one part of Canada comes as fires in the west of the country have once again forced residents to flee their homes.

The country has been struggling with an “unprecedented” wildfire season, with nearly 450 forest fires across the country on Sunday, 220 of which were burning out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

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Poor air quality returns to US north-east from Canada wildfires

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New York City, parts of Pennsylvania and Baltimore all issued warnings as 421 wildfires continue to burn up north

Poor air quality returned to the north-east US on Sunday, although it was nowhere near as bad as the heavy haze that recently shrouded the region and triggered global headlines as wind-borne smoke from raging Canadian wildfires caused orange skies, thick smog and record-setting pollutant levels.

On Sunday morning, a smoke plume moved across New York City, leaving the air quality index in the city at 103 and categorized as “unhealthy for sensitive groups”, particularly for those with heart or lung problems.

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Exhausted crews battle Canadian wildfires as experts issue climate warning

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Global heating and human changes to the landscape have invited more destructive fires, making fire season worse

Weeks of unprecedented wildfires in Canada have burned millions of hectares, displaced more than 100,000 residents and plunged the country into a nationwide crisis as exhausted crews battle hundreds of blazes. But experts caution that a changing climate and human actions on the landscape will probably make fire seasons worse in the coming years.

Hundreds of firefighters from across the world have flown to Canada to aid a nation stretched thin with a spring fire season that has shattered records on both sides of the country, with warmer and drier months still to come.

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Smoke from Canadian wildfires hits Norway and flows to southern Europe

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Researchers used a model to predict how the smoke would move through the region and said it wouldn’t pose a health risk

Smoke from Canadian wildfires that has descended upon parts of the eastern US and Canada in a thick haze has drifted over Norway and is expected to hit southern Europe, Norwegian officials said on Friday.

Using a climate forecast model, atmosphere and climate scientists with the Norwegian climate and environmental research institute (NILU) predicted how the smoke would travel through the atmosphere, flowing over the Scandinavian country before moving further south. The smoke was not expected to pose a health risk there.

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Weather tracker: Canada wildfires rage in what could be worst season to date

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Plumes of smoke move southwards across US east coast. Elsewhere, Japan hit by remnants of Typhoon Mawar

Wildfires in Quebec, Canada, continue to rage, following a spring that was drier and warmer than normal, creating perfect conditions for wildfires to develop. As of 7 June, at least 150 fires remained active across the province, with more than 400 across the country according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. Officials warned this could be the country’s worst wildfire season to date, with at least 9.4m acres of land destroyed so far.

Plumes of smoke from the fires have been moving southwards across the US east coast, delaying thousands of flights. The US National Weather Service also issued air quality alerts for many states, with air quality index levels above 400 – a level of 300 is considered “hazardous” – in some states. A fairly static weather pattern this weekend will mean further plumes of smoke moving towards eastern parts of the US.

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Canada battles hundreds of wildfires as smoke still chokes major cities

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Quebec minister described ‘unprecedented’ situation amid warnings that country must be prepared in future

• Wildfires latest news – live

Wildfire crews in Canada continue to battle hundreds of blazes across the country as air quality in major cities remains poor and other regions brace for intense heat. And as the country burns, experts warn Canada needs to do a better job of readying its communities in areas increasingly prone to destructive blazes.

More than half of the 414 fires across the country are out of control, said the emergency preparedness minister, Bill Blair – with the hottest and driest months still to come.

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Canada wildfires: blazes intensifying due to climate crisis, says Kamala Harris; Trudeau accuses opposition of inaction – as it happened

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US vice-president said administration working with Canada to tackle the crisis; Canadian PM accuses opposition leader of fighting climate plan

Protesters are set to descend upon the White House on Thursday amid growing anger among climate activists at Joe Biden for allowing a controversial gas pipeline in Appalachia to be fast-tracked.

Several hundred protesters are expected to demand Biden “reclaim his climate legacy” by blocking the Mountain Valley pipeline, a 300-mile pipeline that will bring fracked gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia.

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Canada wildfires smoke could linger over parts of US for days, officials warn

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Millions of Americans remain under air pollution warnings as schools close and air travel is disrupted

Toxic smoke from Canadian wildfires could linger over vast swathes of the US for days, officials warned, as millions of Americans remained under air pollution warnings.

Across the eastern US residents were again urged to stay inside and limit or avoid outdoor activities on Thursday, as schools in some cities closed, sporting events were canceled, and air travel was disrupted.

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Canada’s wildfires are part of our new climate reality, experts and officials say

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Canada is on track to experience its most severe wildfire season on record, and it’s part of a trend experts say will intensify

Canada’s ongoing wildfire season is a harbinger of our climate future, experts and officials say.

The fires are a “really clear sign of climate change”, said Mohammadreza Alizadeh, a researcher at McGill University in Montreal, who is also a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Canada wildfires smoke: climate change ‘accelerated conditions’, says New York mayor as Canada battles more than 400 blazes – live

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Eric Adams remarks come as city briefly ranked world’s worst for air pollution; more firefighters to be mobilised as over 200 blazes are out of control

Over 200 “out of control” fires are currently burning across Canada as experts warn that air quality will continue to deteriorate.

Leyland Cecco reports from Toronto:

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Jodie Comer stops stage performance because of New York air: ‘I can’t breathe’

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Actor was helped off stage from her one-woman show Prima Facie after city’s poor air quality prompted breathing issues

Jodie Comer stopped her one-woman show Prima Facie on Broadway because of breathing difficulties owing to New York’s air crisis.

According to eyewitnesses, the award-winning star of Killing Eve, tipped to win a Tony award this weekend, was 10 minutes late for the matinee performance. After three minutes of the show, she announced that she couldn’t proceed.

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‘Out of control’ fires burn across Canada as poor air quality expected to persist

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Hundreds of wildfires burn in country, with 238 ‘out of control’ as of Tuesday afternoon, blanketing cities in smoke

Hundreds of wildfires are burning across Canada, many of them out of control, have blanketed cities in a thick haze of smoke, amid warnings from experts the situation will continue to worsen.

Toronto has long been known as “the Big Smoke” for its history of heavy industry, but the nickname took on a different meaning on Wednesday when residents donned masks outside, following alerts from officials that the city’s air quality would continue to deteriorate. Outdoor school events were delayed and city officials warned vulnerable groups to remain inside when possible. In the nation’s capital of Ottawa, Environment Canada said the air quality was “very high risk”, alongside the nearby cities of Kingston, Cornwall and Belleville. In much of southern Ontario, the poor air quality is expected to persist into the weekend.

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Tens of millions under air quality alerts in US as Canada fire smoke drifts south

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Eastern US states including New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut issue alerts as hundreds of wildfires burn in Canada

Tens of millions of people in the US were under air quality alerts on Wednesday, as smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted south, turning the sky in some of the country’s biggest cities a murky brown and saturating the air with harmful pollution.

States across the east, including New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, issued air quality alerts, with officials recommending that people limit outdoor activity.

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At a glance: what you need to know about Canada wildfires and smoky US skies

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Hazy skies hung over north-eastern US a day after the midwest received a similar alert from the Environmental Protection Agency

Canada is dealing with a series of intense wildfires that have spread from the western provinces to Quebec, with hundreds of forest fires burning. Wind has carried smoke from the fires southward, triggering air-quality alerts throughout the United States.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday issued a poor air-quality alert for New England, a day after parts of Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota received a similar advisory. Last week, US officials as far south as Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania reported being affected by the wildfires.

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Nova Scotia hopes forecast rain will help contain largest wildfire on record

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Huge Barrington Lake fire now considered province’s largest wildfire but wet weather expected from Friday into next week

Rain on Friday and a rainy forecast for the weekend have fire officials hopeful they can get the largest wildfire ever recorded in Canada’s Atlantic coast province of Nova Scotia under control.

That wildfire and three others in the province have prompted air quality warnings in US regions as far south as Virginia and Maryland.

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Nova Scotia: fears extreme heat and strong winds could worsen wildfires

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Officials say combination of high temperatures and stiff breezes could lead to ‘extreme fire behaviour’ in Maritime province

Officials in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia say a day of blistering heat, strong winds and low humidity could lead to “extreme fire behaviour” as they work to control wildfires that have forced more than 20,000 people from their homes.

Fire crews said on Thursday they were concerned about a phenomenon known as “crossover”, which occurs when temperature rises above 30C, humidity drops below 30% and winds exceed 30km/h.

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Firefighters tackle Highlands wildfire that may become UK’s largest ever

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The blaze, which began near Inverness in Scotland, is still not out after four days and its cause is unknown

Firefighters have spent four days battling a wildfire in the Scottish Highlands that officials believe is on its way to becoming the largest by area on record in the UK and which has been photographed from space.

The fire broke out at Cannich near Inverness on Sunday and has grown to an area measuring roughly 8km by 8km (24 square miles). Two firefighters were injured on Tuesday after being in an accident in their all-terrain vehicle while tackling the blaze. They have since been discharged from the hospital, the community safety minister, Siobhian Brown, said in the Scottish parliament on Wednesday.

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