Brazil tells landowners to stop setting fires in Amazon “climate emergency”

Sao Paulo, Brazil Reuters Brazil’s government told ranchers and farmers on Friday to stop setting fire to the Amazon rainforest as clouds of dense gray smoke make the air increasingly unbreathable in the northern city of Manaus, threatening sanctions if they do burn areas of land. “Fire is not natural in the Amazon, it comes […]
Wildfires in dry Amazon rainforest choke Manaus city

Manaus, Brazil Reuters Clouds of dense gray smoke from dozens of wildfires in the Brazilian Amazon, many of them illegally started, have hung over the region’s capital city Manaus, making the air increasingly unbreathable. Residents complain of stinging noses and throats. Journalist Indiara Bessa looks out from her apartment as smoke from wildfires in the […]
International help rolls in to fight persistent Canadian wildfires

Ottawa, Canada Reuters Allies around the world have promised to increase their help to Canada in its fight against hundreds of blazes that have swept through the country in its worst-ever start to wildfire season. Forest fires that have gathered strength over the last month have forced tens of thousands of people from their homes […]
Alberta wildfire fighters hope rain, cooling bring relief

Reuters Alberta authorities hope cooler temperatures and showers forecast for the coming week will help firefighters battling blazes in the oil-rich Canadian province, although storms could complicate efforts. Amid hot, dry conditions, forecasters were tracking a front likely to move into the province on Sunday that should bring much-needed relief, including humidity and even rain, […]
Postcards: Choking on smoke – US cities open clean air shelters for homeless

GREGORY SCRUGGS, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports from Seattle on how communities are grappling with declines in air quality on the US west coast as wildfires rage…
Essay: Even for an air pollution historian like me, these past weeks have been a shock

In an article first published on The Conversation, NANCY CUSHING, an associate professor at the University of Newcastle, looks at why a new approach to bushfire smoke is needed in Australia…
Australia’s bushfires make massive clouds of pollution

Reuters Smoke from Australia’s bushfires has blanketed its major cities over the past month, turned the sky over New Zealand bright orange and left sooty deposits on its glaciers and drifted across the Pacific to South America. Reuters used readings from NASA’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office showing hourly estimates of the amount of organic […]
Sydney gasps for air as Australia bushfire smoke reaches record levels

Melbourne, Australia Reuters The Australian state of New South Wales is gasping under the worst levels of air pollution recorded as smoke from widespread bushfires causes a spike in hospital visits and hazards including poor visibility for drivers. Sydney, the country’s most populous city, woke up to a thick haze, and blood red sun, for […]
Indonesians hope “milestone” ruling will dampen haze-fire risks

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Thomson Reuters Foundation Green groups have urged the Indonesian government to step up help for hundreds of thousands of people made sick by forest fires and the haze they cause each year, after the nation’s top court ruled Jakarta must do more to stem the problem. The Supreme Court last week upheld […]