The European Commission plans to restrict exports of aluminum scrap amid concerns that rising outflows of the resource could leave Europe short of a critical input for its decarbonization efforts.
“We are launching the preparatory work on a new measure to address the issue of aluminium scrap leakage,” said EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic at the European Aluminum Summit on Tuesday.
European Union environment ministers agreed to a watered-down version of the bloc’s 2040 climate goals on Wednesday, bringing the EU one step closer to setting new—if weaker—targets for lowering carbon emissions.
Ministers adopted a number of climate-focused policies, including a legally-binding target to slash the EU’s collective emissions by 90% by 2040 from 1990 levels.
Suggestions that fireworks to mark Diwali may have contributed to soaring air pollution in India’s capital are being dismissed online as complaints from “fake” Muslims, with social media posts piling on by falsely claiming an old video shows “real Muslims” celebrating the Hindu festival of lights in Saudi Arabia. The video in fact shows celebrations for the UAE’s national day in December 2023.
“In Saudi Arabia, real Muslims are celebrating Diwali with great enthusiasm, bursting firecrackers; meanwhile in India, fake ones are fuming about Diwali firecrackers,” reads the caption of a Facebook video shared on October 21, 2025.
The video, which has been viewed more than 32,000 times, shows groups of people on the street watching an elaborate fireworks display.
It circulated as Diwali celebrations were linked to the Indian capital’s air pollution crisis — a link Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa pushed back against and described to the Asian News International (ANI) news agency as a politically motivated attempt to ban Hindu religious practices (archived link).
The link has also been rejected online, with people making the association labelled as anti-Hindu or Muslim.
According to monitoring organisation IQAir, toxic air in the Indian capital Delhi did spike following the Diwali celebrations — hitting more than 56 times the UN health limit just after the peak of the bursting fireworks early on October 21 (archived link).
Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on October 31, 2025, with a red X added by AFP
The video was also shared in similar Facebook, Instagram, Threads and X posts, with comments indicating users believed it showed a Diwali celebration in Saudi Arabia.
“How wonderful Diwali is celebrated in Saudi Arabia but Muslims in India hate Diwali,” read one such comment.
But the video in fact shows a celebration of the United Arab Emirates’ national day in Abu Dhabi.
Its caption reads, “UAE 52 National Day Celebration 2023”.
Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and the December 2023 YouTube video (right)
An analysis of the video by an AFP journalist reporting on the Middle East also uncovered other elements indicating the video was filmed in the United Arab Emirates, including a photo of the country’s President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on a car and a falcon emblem — a symbol of the country — above the number “52” on a lamp post.
Screenshot of falsely shared video, with the UAE president’s photo, a falcon emblem and the number “52” highlighted by AFP
Subsequent keyword searches led to a statement about the installation of decorative pieces by Abu Dhabi City Municipality to celebrate the United Arab Emirates’ 52nd Union Day on December 2, 2023 (archived link).
Screenshot of the statement on the Abu Dhabi City Municipality website
According to the statement, the decorations were placed along notable locations, including “Abu Dhabi Corniche Street”.
Street level imagery available on the KartaView platform shows the falsely shared video corresponds to the intersection of Corniche Street and Mubarak Bin Mohammed Street in Abu Dhabi (archived link).
Screenshot of the video in the false post (L) and Street level imagery available on the KartaView platform, similarities highlighted by AFP
Thousands of people in Oregon have been urged to stay indoors amid concerns over high air pollution levels.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) AirNow map, which provides a real-time snapshot of air quality, showed that air pollution levels around Sweet Home, north-east of Eugene, are in the unhealthy range on Friday morning.
The warnings mean that the risk of negative health effects from air pollution are increased for the general public, as well as vulnerable populations.
Why It Matters
Air pollution poses significant health risks to the general public, in particular for the young, seniors and vulnerable populations such as those with underlying respiratory or cardiovascular conditions.
The EPA warned on its website: “Some members of the general public may experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.”
“Active children and adults, and people with lung disease, such as asthma, should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. Everyone else, especially children, should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.”
Across the country, wildfire fighters work for weeks at a time in poisonous smoke.
Across the country, wildfire fighters work for weeks at a time in poisonous smoke.
The government says they are protected.
The government says they are protected.
We tested the air at one fire to find out why they are still dying.
We tested the air at one fire to find out why they are still dying.
Across the country, wildfire fighters work for weeks at a time in poisonous smoke.
Across the country, wildfire fighters work for weeks at a time in poisonous smoke.
The government says they are protected.
The government says they are protected.
We tested the air at one fire to find out why they are still dying.
We tested the air at one fire to find out why they are still dying.
It’s July and the Green fire is tearing through Northern California. An elite federal firefighting crew called the La Grande Hotshots has been sent to help. The 24-person crew has been working for days on the front lines, where invisible toxins hide in the thick haze.
More than 1,000 firefighters are on the fire. Several crews, including the La Grande Hotshots, are trying to contain the flames by building a trench of bare earth that will stretch from a road to a river bank. They’re doing this at night, in hopes that the cooler air will tamp down the smoke.
The crew knows that they’re risking their health.
The La Grande hotshots on assignment this summer.
La Grande Hotshots
One longtime member died last year after being diagnosed at 40 with brain cancer. A former crew leader is being treated for both leukemia and lymphoma diagnosed in his 40s. Another colleague was recently told that he has the lungs of a lifelong chainsmoker.
Wildfire fighters nationwide are getting sick and dying at young ages, The New York Times hasreported. The federal government acknowledges that the job is linked to lung disease, heart damage and more than a dozen kinds of cancer.
Casey Budlong, a La Grande Hotshot, died of cancer in 2024 after fighting fires for two decades. He left behind an 8-year-old son.
Katy Budlong
But the U.S. Forest Service, which employs thousands of firefighters, has for decades ignored recommendations from its own scientists to monitor the conditions at the fire line and limit shifts when the air becomes unsafe.
To find out how harmful the air gets on an average-size wildfire, Times reporters brought sensors to the Green fire this summer. We tracked levels of some of the most lethal particles in the air, called PM2.5, which are so tiny that they can enter the bloodstream and cause lasting damage.
Readings above 225.5 micrograms per cubic meter are considered hazardous. On the fire line, levels regularly exceeded 500.
The fire began on July 1 after a lightning storm passed over the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
The fire began on July 1 after a lightning storm passed over the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
By July 16, much of the area was shrouded in smoke.
By July 16, much of the area was shrouded in smoke.
Around 6 p.m., the La Grande Hotshots started their shift and set off toward the fire line.
Capt. Nick Schramm, a crew leader, assumed the air was reasonably safe. He has done this work for nearly two decades, and like most firefighters, he often has coughing fits after long shifts. But he believes that exposure to hazardous air is unavoidable.
“That’s just the harsh truth,” he said later.
As climate change makes fire seasons worse, several states have tried to shield outdoor workers from wildfire smoke, which can contain poisons like arsenic, benzene and lead. California now requires employers to monitor air quality during fires, and to provide breaks and masks when the air turns unhealthy.
But these rules don’t apply on the wildfires themselves, because state agencies and private companies successfully argued that those constraints would get in the way of fighting fires.
Until recently, federal firefighters weren’t even allowed to wear masks on the job. Masks are now provided, but they are still banned during the most arduous work, closest to the fire. The Forest Service says face coverings could cause heatstroke, though wildland firefighters in other countries regularly use masks without this problem.
As crews descended the ridge toward the fire line, the levels of toxic particles nearly doubled.
As crews descended the ridge toward the fire line, the levels of toxic particles nearly doubled.
Firefighters say that during their shifts they worry more about immediate dangers — falling trees, burns, sharp tools — than about smoke exposure. As the La Grande crew hiked down the steep terrain, Lily Barnes, a squad leader, concentrated on keeping her footing.
Back home in the off-season, she sometimes wonders what the smoke is doing to her body, she said in an interview. “Maybe I’ll realize one day I shouldn’t have been doing this work.”
The handbook issued to Forest Service crews has 10 words of guidance for smoke exposure on the fire line: “If needed, rotate resources in and out of smoky areas.” The agency declined to comment for this story, but in the past has told The Times that while exposure cannot be completely eliminated, rotating crews helps limit risk.
In practice, according to interviews with hundreds of firefighters, workers feel as though they are sent into smoke and then forgotten. Over months of reporting, Times journalists never saw a boss pull a crew back because of exposure.
Even experienced supervisors can’t tell exactly how unhealthy the air is just by looking.
Chuy Elguezabal, the La Grande superintendent, says he pulls his crews out of smoke when it becomes impossible for them to work — when they cannot see or breathe, or they are overcome by headaches and coughing fits.
On the Green fire, he said, the smoke seemed like more of an inconvenience, like the 105-degree daytime heat or the poison oak that had given many of the firefighters weeping sores.
Since the 1990s, Forest Service researchers have suggested giving crews wearable air sensors, but the agency hasn’t done it. Other dangerous workplaces, like coal mines, have long been required to monitor airborne hazards.
On the Green fire, The Times used a device that weighs as much as a deck of cards and costs about $200.
Last year, firefighters wore the same devices during a small federal research project to measure their exposure. For hours, those readings stayed at 1,000 — as high as the monitors go — according to Zach Kiehl, a consultant who worked on the project.
Mr. Kiehl said that ideally, crews would be issued monitors to know when to put on masks or pull back from a smoky area. “You can pay now and prevent future cases, or pay out later when a person is losing a husband or a father,” he said.
The firefighters believe that the decision to work at night has paid off: The smoke occasionally got thick, but didn’t seem bad compared with other fires they have worked. They think the exposure was fleeting.
In fact, the monitors show, the air was never safe.
Methodology
To measure particulate concentrations at the Green fire, The Times followed U.S. Forest Service crews and carried two Atmotube PRO sensors. These portable, inexpensive monitors are the same as those the Forest Service has tested in the field.
We consulted with Dr. Aishah Shittu, an environmental health scientist, and Dr. Jim McQuaid, an atmospheric scientist, both from the University of Leeds. They are co-authors of a study showing that Atmotube Pro sensors demonstrated good performance for measuring fine particulate matter concentrations despite being a fraction of the size of reference-grade models. We also developed our approach in consultation with experts from the Interior Department and the Forest Service.
On the Green fire, the sensors recorded minute-by-minute averages of airborne particles that are 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller. The Times then matched these readings with timestamps and locations from a satellite-enabled GPS watch.
Generally, the harm associated with PM2.5 levels is calculated based on a 24-hour average. Here, for near-real-time monitoring on the fire line, we followed the guidance of Drs. Shittu and McQuaid by first averaging the readings from the two sensors and then calculating a 15-minute rolling average.
Using those figures, we categorized the health risks of PM2.5 exposure according to standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. We used standards meant for the public because there are no federal occupational standards for wildfire smoke exposure.
After averaging, our data had a correlation coefficient of 0.98 and a mean coefficient of variation between the two sensors of 7.5 percent. The E.P.A. recommends that PM2.5 air measurements have a correlation coefficient of at least 0.7 and a mean coefficient of variation less than 30 percent. Our correlation and variance measures gave us confidence that the sensors were largely in agreement.
The 3-D base map in this article uses Google’s Photorealistic 3D Tiles, which draw from the following sources to create the tiles: Google; Airbus; Landsat / Copernicus; Data SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO; IBCAO.
Across the country, wildfire fighters work for weeks at a time in poisonous smoke.
Across the country, wildfire fighters work for weeks at a time in poisonous smoke.
The government says they are protected.
The government says they are protected.
We tested the air at one fire to find out why they are still dying.
We tested the air at one fire to find out why they are still dying.
Across the country, wildfire fighters work for weeks at a time in poisonous smoke.
Across the country, wildfire fighters work for weeks at a time in poisonous smoke.
The government says they are protected.
The government says they are protected.
We tested the air at one fire to find out why they are still dying.
We tested the air at one fire to find out why they are still dying.
It’s July and the Green fire is tearing through Northern California. An elite federal firefighting crew called the La Grande Hotshots has been sent to help. The 24-person crew has been working for days on the front lines, where invisible toxins hide in the thick haze.
More than 1,000 firefighters are on the fire. Several crews, including the La Grande Hotshots, are trying to contain the flames by building a trench of bare earth that will stretch from a road to a river bank. They’re doing this at night, in hopes that the cooler air will tamp down the smoke.
The crew knows that they’re risking their health.
The La Grande hotshots on assignment this summer.
La Grande Hotshots
One longtime member died last year after being diagnosed at 40 with brain cancer. A former crew leader is being treated for both leukemia and lymphoma diagnosed in his 40s. Another colleague was recently told that he has the lungs of a lifelong chainsmoker.
Wildfire fighters nationwide are getting sick and dying at young ages, The New York Times hasreported. The federal government acknowledges that the job is linked to lung disease, heart damage and more than a dozen kinds of cancer.
Casey Budlong, a La Grande Hotshot, died of cancer in 2024 after fighting fires for two decades. He left behind an 8-year-old son.
Katy Budlong
But the U.S. Forest Service, which employs thousands of firefighters, has for decades ignored recommendations from its own scientists to monitor the conditions at the fire line and limit shifts when the air becomes unsafe.
To find out how harmful the air gets on an average-size wildfire, Times reporters brought sensors to the Green fire this summer. We tracked levels of some of the most lethal particles in the air, called PM2.5, which are so tiny that they can enter the bloodstream and cause lasting damage.
Readings above 225.5 micrograms per cubic meter are considered hazardous. On the fire line, levels regularly exceeded 500.
The fire began on July 1 after a lightning storm passed over the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
The fire began on July 1 after a lightning storm passed over the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
By July 16, much of the area was shrouded in smoke.
By July 16, much of the area was shrouded in smoke.
Around 6 p.m., the La Grande Hotshots started their shift and set off toward the fire line.
Capt. Nick Schramm, a crew leader, assumed the air was reasonably safe. He has done this work for nearly two decades, and like most firefighters, he often has coughing fits after long shifts. But he believes that exposure to hazardous air is unavoidable.
“That’s just the harsh truth,” he said later.
As climate change makes fire seasons worse, several states have tried to shield outdoor workers from wildfire smoke, which can contain poisons like arsenic, benzene and lead. California now requires employers to monitor air quality during fires, and to provide breaks and masks when the air turns unhealthy.
But these rules don’t apply on the wildfires themselves, because state agencies and private companies successfully argued that those constraints would get in the way of fighting fires.
Until recently, federal firefighters weren’t even allowed to wear masks on the job. Masks are now provided, but they are still banned during the most arduous work, closest to the fire. The Forest Service says face coverings could cause heatstroke, though wildland firefighters in other countries regularly use masks without this problem.
As crews descended the ridge toward the fire line, the levels of toxic particles nearly doubled.
As crews descended the ridge toward the fire line, the levels of toxic particles nearly doubled.
Firefighters say that during their shifts they worry more about immediate dangers — falling trees, burns, sharp tools — than about smoke exposure. As the La Grande crew hiked down the steep terrain, Lily Barnes, a squad leader, concentrated on keeping her footing.
Back home in the off-season, she sometimes wonders what the smoke is doing to her body, she said in an interview. “Maybe I’ll realize one day I shouldn’t have been doing this work.”
The handbook issued to Forest Service crews has 10 words of guidance for smoke exposure on the fire line: “If needed, rotate resources in and out of smoky areas.” The agency declined to comment for this story, but in the past has told The Times that while exposure cannot be completely eliminated, rotating crews helps limit risk.
In practice, according to hundreds of firefighters, workers feel as though they are sent into smoke and then forgotten. Over months of reporting, Times journalists never saw a boss pull a crew back because of exposure.
Even experienced supervisors can’t tell exactly how unhealthy the air is just by looking.
Chuy Elguezabal, the La Grande superintendent, says he pulls his crews out of smoke when it becomes impossible for them to work — when they cannot see or breathe, or they are overcome by headaches and coughing fits.
On the Green fire, he said, the smoke seemed like more of an inconvenience, like the 105-degree daytime heat or the poison oak that had given many of the firefighters weeping sores.
Since the 1990s, Forest Service researchers have suggested giving crews wearable air sensors, but the agency hasn’t done it. Other dangerous workplaces, like coal mines, have long been required to monitor airborne hazards.
On the Green fire, The Times used a device that weighs as much as a deck of cards and costs about $200.
Last year, firefighters wore the same devices during a small federal research project to measure their exposure. For hours, those readings stayed at 1,000 — as high as the monitors go — according to Zach Kiehl, a consultant who worked on the project.
Mr. Kiehl said that ideally, crews would be issued monitors to know when to put on masks or pull back from a smoky area. “You can pay now and prevent future cases, or pay out later when a person is losing a husband or a father,” he said.
The firefighters believe that the decision to work at night has paid off: The smoke occasionally got thick, but didn’t seem bad compared with other fires they have worked. They think the exposure was fleeting.
In fact, the monitors show, the air was never safe.
Methodology
To measure particulate concentrations at the Green fire, The Times followed U.S. Forest Service crews and carried two Atmotube PRO sensors. These portable, inexpensive monitors are the same as those the Forest Service has tested in the field.
We consulted with Dr. Aishah Shittu, an environmental health scientist, and Dr. Jim McQuaid, an atmospheric scientist, both from the University of Leeds. They are co-authors of a study showing that Atmotube Pro sensors demonstrated good performance for measuring fine particulate matter concentrations despite being a fraction of the size of reference-grade models. We also developed our approach in consultation with experts from the Interior Department and the Forest Service.
On the Green fire, the sensors recorded minute-by-minute averages of airborne particles that are 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller. The Times then matched these readings with timestamps and locations from a satellite-enabled GPS watch.
Generally, the harm associated with PM2.5 levels is calculated based on a 24-hour average. Here, for near-real-time monitoring on the fire line, we followed the guidance of Drs. Shittu and McQuaid by first averaging the readings from the two sensors and then calculating a 15-minute rolling average.
Using those figures, we categorized the health risks of PM2.5 exposure according to standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. We used standards meant for the public because there are no federal occupational standards for wildfire smoke exposure.
After averaging, our data had a correlation coefficient of 0.98 and a mean coefficient of variation between the two sensors of 7.5 percent. The E.P.A. recommends that PM2.5 air measurements have a correlation coefficient of at least 0.7 and a mean coefficient of variation less than 30 percent. Our correlation and variance measures gave us confidence that the sensors were largely in agreement.
The 3-D base map in this article uses Google’s Photorealistic 3D Tiles, which draw from the following sources to create the tiles: Google; Airbus; Landsat / Copernicus; Data SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO; IBCAO.
Indians celebrated their festival of lights with the flash and din of fireworks, casting a pall of murky pollution over the capital, New Delhi, despite a court order aimed at limiting the festivities to more environmentally friendly “green crackers.”
Why It Matters
New Delhi is one of the world’s most polluted cities, and the celebrations for the festival of Diwali herald its worst months as cooler air laden with smog is trapped over the city, reducing visibility and raising serious health risks for the more than 30 million people who live in the capital and its metropolitan region.
What To Know
The Hindu festival of Diwali marks the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil, and it is celebrated with candles and fireworks.
City authorities have tried to ban firecrackers for Diwali in recent years, but they have struggled, largely in vain, to enforce the curbs as some Hindu groups argue that the bans spoil the celebration.
This year, the Supreme Court relaxed the ban on firecrackers in the city, allowing the use of so-called green crackers, which are meant to blow up with less pollutants, for up to three hours on Sunday and Monday. Authorities said only the green crackers could be sold, and a system of QR codes was meant to ensure compliance.
But the restriction appeared to do little to keep the pollution at bay.
On Tuesday, the day after a night of Diwali celebrations, New Delhi woke up to a shroud of smog.
The Air Quality Index of 347 on Tuesday morning compared with 359 at the same time last year, NDTV reported, citing the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research.
“A thick gray haze engulfed Delhi this morning as air quality plummeted into the ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ zones, following widespread bursting of firecrackers beyond the Supreme Court’s two-hour limit,” Indian newspaper The Pioneer wrote on X.
What People are Saying
The Pioneer reported: “The green cracker policy, meant to strike a balance between celebration and clean air, has been reduced to a hollow slogan. In the end, Delhi’s markets tell the real story, no QR codes, no awareness, no enforcement. Only the same banned crackers wrapped in new labels. The ‘green’ in this year’s Diwali is only on paper.”
Vedant Pachkande, a tourist visiting New Delhi, told the Associated Press: “I have never seen anything like this before. We can’t see anything here because of pollution.”
What Happens Next
The pollution in New Delhi is likely to get worse in coming weeks as farmers in breadbasket states around the capital burn off crop stubble in preparation for a new planting, and the “weather inversion” sets in when a layer of warm air traps cooler, polluted air over the ground.
This article uses reporting by the Associated Press.
Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a new form of molecular architecture called metal-organic frameworks that can harvest water from desert air, capture carbon dioxide, store toxic gases or catalyze chemical reactions.
The structures, metal ions connected by carbon-based linkers, have large holes that allow other molecules to flow in and out, almost like rooms in a house. They can capture and release gases, water or other substances. Changing the size or shape of its components can make a countless amount of new frameworks designed for specific substances, reactions or to conduct electricity.
State officials expect a rise in ozone and fine particulate levels that will be unhealthy for older adults, children and people with heart or lung disease, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The agency issued an action day alert at 4 p.m. Thursday that is set to last until at least 4 p.m. Friday. Communities covered by the alert span urban corridor from Douglas County to the south and Larimer and Weld counties to the north, including Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley.
People who are sensitive to air pollution should not spend long periods of time outside or participate in heavy exercise outdoors, state officials said.
The January wildfires left many scars on the city of Los Angeles, from rubble-reduced homes to torched abandoned vehicles. Though cleanup crews quickly cleared much of the debris, one alarming invisible impact lingered over the city for months, a new study suggests.
In late March—more than two months after the flames died out—researchers detected levels of carcinogenic hexavalent chromium (a.k.a. chromium-6) 200 times greater than baseline levels for LA air. If this pollutant sounds familiar, you’re probably thinking of the 2000 film Erin Brockovich, a dramatization of a true story about hexavalent chromium water contamination. Though the levels the researchers detected fell below certain safety thresholds, the particles’ unusually small size immediately raised concerns.
The study is currently available on the preprint server Research Square, but it has been reviewed by the LA Health Consortium, lead author Michael Kleeman, an environmental engineer at the University of California Davis, told Gizmodo in an email. Though it has yet to go through formal peer review, he and his colleagues chose to release the findings to alert policymakers and the public to this potentially hazardous pollutant as soon as possible.
In a statement to Science Magazine, the South Coast Air Quality Management District emphasized that the study’s sampling was limited and that its own data do not suggest there is an immediate health risk from hexavalent chromium.
Fire activates chromium’s toxicity
Chromium is a heavy metal that naturally occurs in soil, plants, and rocks, but it’s also present in some building materials, including stainless steel, chrome plating, pigments, and cement. In its common form, chromium III is an essential nutrient that helps the body break down fats and carbohydrates.
When oxidized, chromium III becomes toxic hexavalent chromium. Certain levels of exposure to this pollutant may increase the risk of lung, nasal, and sinus cancer, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Research has shown that fire can drive the oxidation of chromium III, and a 2023 study found that hexavalent chromium can be present in wildfire smoke and ash.
Thus, Kleeman and his colleagues expected to find hexavalent chromium when they sampled air from debris cleanup zones around the Eaton and Palisades fires. They detected concentrations ranging from 8.1 nanograms to 21.6 nanograms per cubic meter in the neighborhoods most affected by the fires: Altadena and the Pacific Palisades. This is well below the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s workplace exposure limit of 200 nanograms per cubic meter of air but above the EPA’s indoor limit of 0.1 nanogram per cubic meter.
What they didn’t expect was the puny size of the particles. “It is really surprising to find all of the hexavalent chromium in the LA fire debris cleanup zones concentrated in particles smaller than 56 nanometers,” Kleeman said.
Smaller particles, bigger hazard
The main pollutant of concern in wildfire smoke is PM2.5—hazardous particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers wide. Their size allows them to lodge themselves deep inside the lungs, causing tissue damage and inflammation. The hexavalent chromium nanoparticles Kleeman and his colleagues detected are an order of magnitude smaller.
“Nanoparticles smaller than 50 nanometers can cross cell membranes, meaning they can get deeper into our bodies than larger particles,” he explained. “Nanoparticles can circulate in our blood and get to all of our major organs.” Still, the specific health risks from hexavalent chromium nanoparticles remain uncertain. “The current findings warrant caution, but not panic,” Kleeman said.
He plans to return to Altadena and the Palisades to determine whether airborne hexavalent chromium levels have returned to normal and identify potential sources and exposure hotspots. Understanding this newly realized threat is more important than ever as global temperatures rise.
“California is in a new reality where climate change is driving wildfires into major urban areas,” Kleeman said. “We all need to work together to adapt to this new reality.”
University of Chicago researchers on Thursday released their annual Air Quality Life Index, a situational update on air pollution and how it impacts life expectancy. The AQLI report said particulate pollution “remained the greatest external threat to human life expectancy,” comparing the impact to smoking.
Researchers from the university’s Energy Policy Institute analyzed pollution data collected throughout 2023 and compared it with previous years.
Michael Greenstone, a professor at the University of Chicago who created the AQLI, told CBS News his team focused on airborne particulate matter — small particles that are able to invade and wreak havoc on the body more easily than larger ones.
The data is taken from satellite readings that refresh each year and can take time to process, which is why the latest figures date back a couple of years, Greenstone said.
While global pollution only rose slightly between 2022 and 2023, the report’s authors found that updated levels remained almost five times higher than the limit recommended by the World Health Organization to protect public safety. Local changes in air quality varied from one country to the next. The differences were particularly stark in the U.S. and Canada, where airborne particulate concentrations increased more than anywhere else.
Property and homes razed by a wildfire in Celista, British Columbia, Canada, on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023.
Cole Burston/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“Evidence of a link between climate change, wildfire smoke, and rising particulate pollution has been increasing over the past two decades,” the authors wrote in their report, citing a recent study that found human-caused climate change “increased the likelihood of autumn wind-driven extreme wildfire events, especially in the Western U.S.”
Extreme wildfires, particularly forest fires, have become larger, more common and more intense since the beginning of this century, according to NASA.
The Canadian wildfires caused particulate concentrations in Canada to soar to levels not seen since 1998, according to the AQLI. In the U.S., the wildfires drove up pollution to levels not seen since 2011 — a 20% uptick from the levels recorded in 2022. Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Mississippi were markedly affected, with pockets of those states replacing 20 counties in California as the most polluted nationwide.
Out of 3,137 American counties, the number of locations with pollution levels above the national U.S. standard rose to 308 in 2023, up from just 12 in 2022, according to the report. Forty-eight of the counties were in Ohio, 41 were in Wisconsin, 31 were in Pennsylvania, 26 were in Indiana and 19 were in Illinois, with the remaining 143 spread across the rest of the country.
In Canada, the researchers said that 50% of residents in 2023 breathed air that contained particulates in amounts exceeding their national air quality standard. That was a sharp turnaround in the country’s progress in pursuit of cleaner air, which had resulted in particulate levels falling below the national standard in previous years, said the report’s authors, noting that particulate levels in Canada’s most polluted regions were roughly equal to those of Bolivia and Honduras, two countries that face are known to face challenges addressing air quality and pollution.
The Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories experienced the country’s worst pollution, according to the report. That reflected some of the locations of destructive wildfires that collectively burned more than 71,000 acres of land from the East to West Coasts. Smoke from those blazes permeated the atmosphere over Canada and the U.S., creating hazy, and at times, orange, skies while health posing threats to people with certain conditions.
Smoke from the Tantallon wildfire rises over houses in nearby Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada, May 28, 2023.
ERIC MARTYN / REUTERS
Wildfires scorching Canada this summer have again given rise to serious air quality concerns, for Canadians and Americans alike.
“It’s correct to think of this air pollution from the wildfires as, kind of, the ghost of fossil fuels past,” Greenstone told CBS News.
He said that the U.S. has over the last half-century made “enormous progress” toward blocking particulates generated through the burning of fossil fuels, like oil and gas, from entering the air. The AQLI credited the implementation of the Clean Air Act for reducing particulate concentrations by over 60% since 1970, which it says added 1.4 years to the life expectancy of American residents.
But the devices used to block particulates do not prevent carbon dioxide from infiltrating the atmosphere, driving up temperatures and increasing both the incidence and the severity of wildfires, Greenstone added. When trees burn in a fire, more particulates are produced and released again.
“The point we’re trying to make is that CO2 that’s released when we use fossil fuels, both historically and today, it stays up in the atmosphere for centuries, and it raises temperatures, and it will continue to for centuries,” Greenstone said. “What we’re seeing is an important consequence of that, which is, it’s going to increase the incidence of wildfires going forward. And those wildfires are causing us to breathe air that is going to cause us to lead shorter and sicker lives.”
Emily Mae Czachor is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. She typically covers breaking news, extreme weather and issues involving social justice. Emily Mae previously wrote for outlets like the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek.
Oslo —The world’s first commercial service offering carbon storage off Norway’s coast has carried out its inaugural CO2 injection into the North Sea seabed, the Northern Lights consortium operating the site said Monday.
The project by Northern Lights, which is led by oil giants Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies, involves transporting and burying CO2 captured at smokestacks across Europe. The aim is to prevent the emissions from being released into the atmosphere, and thereby help halt climate change.
“We now injected and stored the very first CO2 safely in the reservoir,” Northern Lights’ managing director Tim Heijn said in a statement. “Our ships, facilities and wells are now in operation.”
In concrete terms, after the CO2 is captured, it is liquified and transported by ship to the Oygarden terminal near Bergen on Norway’s western coast.
The liquefied CO2 (LCO2) carrier Northern Pioneer of Northern Lights is pictured at Akershuskaia, Oslo, June 17, 2025 in connection with the international high-level conference on carbon management.
STIAN LYSBERG SOLUM/NTB/AFP/Getty
It is then transferred into large tanks before being injected through a 68-mile pipeline into the seabed, at a depth of around 1.6 miles, for permanent storage.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology has been listed as a climate tool by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), especially for reducing the CO2 footprint of industries such as cement and steel that are difficult to decarbonize.
The first CO2 injection into the Northern Lights geological reservoir was from Germany’s Heidelberg Materials cement plant in Brevik in southeastern Norway.
But CCS technology is complex, controversial and costly.
Without financial assistance, it is currently more profitable for industries to purchase “pollution permits” on the European carbon market than to pay for capturing, transporting and storing their CO2.
The Northern Lights carbon storage site in Øygarden, Norway, is seen on May 28, 2025.
The Washington Post/Getty
Northern Lights has so far signed just three commercial contracts in Europe. One is with a Yara ammonia plant in the Netherlands, another with two of Orsted’s biofuel plants in Denmark, and the third with a Stockholm Exergi thermal power plant in Sweden.
Largely financed by the Norwegian state, Northern Lights has an annual CO2 storage capacity of 1.7 million tons, which is expected to increase to 5.5 million tons by the end of the decade.
While efforts such as Northern Lights are focused on capturing carbon directly from the most highly-polluting sources — industrial smoke stacks — there have also been efforts launched to capture the gas from the ambient air, an even more controversial methodology.
Mark Jacobson, a Stanford University professor of environmental engineering, told CBS News earlier this year that he was dubious of the motivations for and the efficacy of both kinds of carbon capture, and he said bluntly that “direct air capture is not a real solution. We do not have time to waste with this useless technology.”
Jacobson thinks direct air capture, in particular, is a boondoggle, and more effort should be focused on switching to clean energy sources.
Currently, the U.S. gets about 60% of its electricity from fossil fuels.
“You have to think about who’s proposing this technology,” Jacobson said. “Who stands to benefit from carbon capture and direct air capture? It’s the fossil-fuel companies.”
“They’re just saying, ‘Well, we’re extracting as much CO2 as we’re emitting. Therefore, we should be allowed to keep polluting, keep mining,” Jacobson told CBS News, adding that his stance has not made him popular among many in the energy sector.
“Oh, yeah, diesel people hate me, gasoline people hate me, ethanol people hate me, nuclear people hate me, coal people hate me. They do, because I’m telling the truth,” he said. “We don’t need any of these technologies.”
Air pollution from oil and gas causes more than 90,000 premature deaths and sickens hundreds of thousands of people across the US each year, a new study shows, with disproportionately high impacts on communities of color.
More than 10,000 annual pre-term births are attributable to fine particulate matter from oil and gas, the authors found, also linking 216,000 annual childhood-onset asthma cases to the sector’s nitrogen dioxide emissions and 1,610 annual lifetime cancer cases to its hazardous air pollutants.
The highest number of impacts are seen in California, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, while the per-capita incidences are highest in New Jersey, Washington DC, New York, California and Maryland.
The analysis by researchers at University College London and the Stockholm Environment Institute is the first to examine the health impacts – and unequal health burdens – caused by every stage of the oil and gas supply chain, from exploration to end use.
“We’ve long known that these communities are exposed to such levels of inequitable exposure as well as health burden,” said Karn Vohra, a postdoctoral research fellow in geography at University College London, who led the paper. “We were able to just put numbers to what that looks like.”
While Indigenous and Hispanic populations are most affected by pollution from exploration, extraction, transportation and storage, Black and Asian populations are most affected by emissions from processing, refining, manufacturing, distribution and usage.
Though the latter set of activities is responsible for less air pollution overall than the former, the study shows they cause the most unequal health burden, with impacts concentrated in majority-Black areas including southern Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” and eastern Texas.
“What makes the study so valuable is how it dissects health impacts across the whole life cycle of oil and gas – from where it comes out of the ground to where it is combusted,” Timothy Donaghy, research director for the environmental group Greenpeace USA and author of previous research on the racially uneven burdens of fossil fuel pollution. “As many studies have found before, these health burdens are not shared equally – a prime example of fossil fuel racism in action.”
For the analysis, published in Science Advances on Friday, the authors developed an inventory of each stage of oil and gas production and use, with data from the federal government and the University of Colorado Boulder. They plugged that data into a computer model to track pollution from each source, and used epidemiological and health data to track the adverse impacts of those emissions.
These disproportionate impacts are not inexplicable; rather, they are attributable to historic policies such as redlining – a discriminatory mortgage appraisal practice used after the Great Depression by the US government – and high rates of permitting for oil and gas processing plants in close proximity to Black communities.
Oil and gas are responsible for a major share of all air pollution-attributable health impacts in the US, the authors also found: one in five pre-term births and adult deaths linked to fine particulate pollution are from the sector, the authors found, while a stunning 90% of new childhood asthma cases tied to nitrogen dioxide pollution are from oil and gas.
The study is based on data from 2017, the most recent year of complete data available. Between that year and 2023, US oil and gas production has increased by 40% and consumption by 8%, meaning the estimates are probably highly conservative.
The research comes as the Trump administration works to boost fossil fuel production and suppress renewable energy production.
“Given the reckless deregulation being pushed by Trump’s EPA and the president’s call to ‘drill, baby, drill’, this new study should be a flashing red warning light for the nation,” said Donaghy.
Eloise Marais, a University College London professor of geography and study co-author, said she hoped the study was “picked up by the kinds of community leaders and advocacy groups that are pushing for exposure to cleaner air”.
“If there was a move away from reliance on oil and gas, we would experience the climate change benefits 50, 100, 200 years from today because the greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere so long,” she said. “But communities would experience the health benefits immediately.”
The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued air quality alerts in Colorado, Texas, Nevada and Wyoming for Wednesday.
The warnings mean ground-level ozone and particulate concentrations are forecast to reach dangerous levels. In some areas, the pollution comes from drifting wildfire smoke.
Why It Matters
The NWS warned that the general public as well as sensitive groups—children, seniors, and individuals with preexisting respiratory or heart conditions—might experience health effects linked to poor air quality in the affected regions.
“Increasing likelihood of respiratory symptoms and breathing discomfort in active children and adults and people with lung disease, such as asthma,” the NWS said.
“Active children and adults, and people with lung disease, such as asthma, should reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion.”
People wait in a queue at a drive-thru food distribution event in Austin, Texas, in 2021. People wait in a queue at a drive-thru food distribution event in Austin, Texas, in 2021. Mario Cantu/CSM/ZUMA Wire/Cal Sport Media/AP
What To Know
In Texas, an Ozone Action Day has been issued for the Houston, Galveston and Brazoria area, and the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area on Wednesday.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) said that residents in these areas can reduce ozone pollution by “sharing a ride, walking, riding a bicycle, taking your lunch to work, avoiding drive-thru lanes, conserving energy and keeping your vehicle properly tuned.”
In Wyoming, an air quality alert for wildfire smoke has been issued until 1 p.m. on Wednesday for portions of the Bighorn Basin, Owl Creek Mountains, Bridger Mountains and Absaroka Mountains.
Wildfire smoke across the Bighorn Basin, especially from the Red Canyon Fire, as well as fires in Idaho and Nevada, will continue to spread across the region on Wednesday.
In Nevada, an Air Quality Action Day has been forecast for southwest Elko County, including Elko City, for elevated particulate matter. The air pollution is expected to be in the unhealthy for sensitive groups range.
Meanwhile in Colorado, an Ozone Action Day Alert has been issued for the Front Range Urban Corridor until 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Hot and stagnant weather will allow ozone levels to reach levels that unhealthy for sensitive groups.
“If possible, please help us reduce ozone pollution by limiting driving gas and diesel-powered vehicles until at least 4 p.m.,” the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said.
What People Are Saying
The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality said in a statement: “The Wyoming Department of Health recommends that the elderly, young children, and individuals with respiratory problems avoid excessive physical exertion and minimize outdoor activities during this time.
“Wildfire smoke is made up of a variety of pollutants, including particulate matter and ozone, which can cause respiratory health effects. Although these people are most susceptible to health impacts, the Department of Health also advises that everyone should avoid prolonged exposure to poor air quality conditions.”
Jonathan Grigg, a professor of pediatric respiratory and environmental medicine at Queen Mary University of London, previously told Newsweek that there are “very clear links” between inhaling particles and earlier death from both respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.
He added: “There are vulnerable groups and classically they are children because they’ve got an extra issue to do with their lungs developing, whereas our lungs are not developing as adults.”
What Happens Next
The air quality warnings are currently set to remain in force until Wednesday afternoon in Wyoming and Colorado, and for the whole day in Texas and Nevada.
Regular updates regarding air pollution levels are issued on the NWS website and on the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow interactive map.
For perhaps 99.99 percent of our time as a species on Earth, we lived outdoors in the natural environment. Might there be a health benefit to returning now and again, and surrounding ourselves with nature? That’s a question that urban planners have asked. “Are people living in greener areas healthier than people living in less green areas?” Should we put it in a park or another car park?
“In a greener environment, people report fewer symptoms of illness and have better perceived general health. Also, people’s mental health appears to be better”—and by a considerable amount. Indeed, “assuming a causal relation between greenspace and health, 10% more greenspace in the living environment leads to a decrease in the number of symptoms that is comparable with a decrease in age by 5 years.” That is a big assumption, though.
Still, you could imagine some potential mechanisms of why it could be. It could mean less air pollution, and air pollution is no joke. It is the fifth leading cause of death on our planet, killing about five million people a year. Though, of course, our number one risk factor is our diet, which kills twice as many individuals, as you can see below and at 1:18 in my video Are There Health Benefits of Spending Time in Nature?.
So, it could be an antipollution effect, or maybe there’s something special about experiencing greenspaces beyond them just offering more opportunities to exercise. The simplest explanation is probably that a natural setting “simply promotes health-enhancing behavior rather than having specific and direct benefits for health.” It’s harder to go jogging in the park when there is no park. Ironically, it seems that even when people have access to nature, they don’t necessarily take advantage of it. And, even if there were a link, “a question remains about the possibility of a ‘self-selection’ phenomenon: do natural environments elicit increased physical activity and well-being, or do physically active individuals choose to live in areas with more opportunities for physical activity?” What I wanted to know is, “apart from the promotion of physical activity,” are there “added benefits to health of exposure to natural environments”?
Now certainly, just being exposed to sunlight can treat things like seasonal affective disorder and provide vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, but are there any other inherent benefits? You don’t know until you put it to the test. Some of the studies are just silly, though. Consider “Relationships Between Vegetation in Student Environments and Academic Achievement Across the Continental U.S.” At first, I thought the study was about academic achievement and vegetarianism, but no—it’s about vegetation. Researchers found a “positive relationship between non-forest vegetation and graduation rates for schools.” Maybe the Ivy League’s edge is from the ivy?
The study entitled “View Through a Window May Influence Recovery from Surgery” starts to make things more interesting. As you can see below and at 3:04 in my video, some patient rooms at a suburban hospital looked out at trees, while others to a brick wall. “Twenty-three surgical patients assigned to rooms with windows looking out on a natural scene had shorter postoperative hospital stays…and took fewer potent analgesics [painkillers] than 23 matched patients in similar rooms with windows facing a brick building wall.” You can’t chalk that up to a vitamin D effect.
What could it be about just looking at trees? Maybe it is the “vitamin G”—just the color of green. We know how healthy it is to eat our greens. What about just looking at them? Researchers had people exercise while watching a video simulating going through a natural, green-colored setting, the same video in black and white, or everything tinted red, and no differences were noted (with the exception that red made people feel angry), as you can see below and at 3:46 in my video.
The most interesting mechanism that has been suggested that I’ve run across is fractals. Have you ever noticed that “for example, in a tree, all the branches—from big to small—are scaled-down versions of the entire tree”? Each branch has a shape similar to the whole tree itself. Fractal patterns are found throughout nature, where you see “a cascade of self-similar patterns over a range of magnification scales, building visual stimuli that are inherently complex.” And, as you can see when you’re hooked up to an EEG, our brain seems to like them, too.
Regardless of the mechanism, if you compile all the controlled studies on using nature as a health promotion intervention, you tend to see mostly psychological benefits, whereas the findings related to physical outcomes were less consistent. “The most common type of study outcome was self-reported measures of different emotions.” For instance, what makes you feel better: staring at a kiwifruit orchard or a building? (See below and 4:41 in my video.) Awkwardly described, thanks presumably to the language barrier, as a comparison of “synthetic versus organic stimulation.”
As you can see below and at 5:00 in my video, natural settings may make people more attentive and less sad, but when it comes to some objective measures like blood pressure, no significant effect was found. People who exercise outdoors often say they feel great, “suggesting that green exercise activities can increase…various psychological subscales,” such as “mood, focus, and energy”—within just five or so minutes of being out in the woods.
Yet these studies tended not to be randomized trials. Researchers just asked people who already sought out nature what they thought about nature, so it’s no wonder they like it—otherwise, they wouldn’t be out there. But nature-based interventions are low-cost, often free, in fact, and non-invasive (unless you count the mosquitoes). So, if you want “a natural high,” I say go for it, whatever makes you happy. (Not all green exercisers like trees. Golfers just viewed them as obstacles.)
Both operations rely on a chemical known as ethylene oxide to sterilize equipment, but the carcinogen can lead to an increased risk of lymphoid and breast cancers.
Colorado has three years to lower ground-level ozone pollution to meet federal standards, and this summer’s hazy skies — caused by oil and gas drilling, heavy vehicle traffic and wildfire smoke — are putting the state in a hole as it’s already logged more dirty air days than in all of 2023.
“Our state has taken a lot of steps to improve air quality, but you can see it in the skies, you can see it in the air, that we still have work to do,” said Kirsten Schatz, clean air advocate for the Colorado Public Interest Research Group.
Two months into the 2024 summer ozone season, the Front Range already has recorded more high ozone days than the entire summer of 2023. As of Monday, which is the most recent data available, ozone levels had exceeded federal air quality standards on 28 days. At the same point in 2023, there had been 27 high-ozone days.
The summer ozone season runs from June 1 to Aug. 31. However, the region encompassing metro Denver and the northern Front Range this year recorded its first high ozone day in May, and in some years ozone pollution exceeds federal standards into mid-September.
The first benchmark is to lower average ozone pollution to a 2008 standard of 75 parts per billion. The northern Front Range is in what’s called “severe non-attainment” for that number, meaning motorists must use a more expensive blend of gasoline during the summer and more businesses must apply for federal permits that regulate how much pollution they spill into the air.
The second benchmark requires the region to lower its average ozone pollution to a 2015 standard of 70 parts per billion, considered the most acceptable level of air pollution for human health. In July, the EPA downgraded the northern Front Range to be in serious violation of that standard as the region’s ozone level now sits at 81 parts per billion. The state must now submit to the EPA a new plan for lowering emissions.
Colorado needs to meet both EPA benchmarks by 2027, or it will be downgraded again and face more federal regulation.
Of the 28 days the state has recorded high ozone pollution levels, 17 exceeded the 2008 standard of 70 parts per billion, according to data compiled by the Regional Air Quality Council, an organization that advises the state on how to reduce air pollution.
That’s bad news for the region after state air regulators predicted Colorado would be able to meet that standard by the 2027 deadline. The EPA calculates average ozone pollution levels on a three-year average, so this summer’s bad numbers will drag down the final grade.
“It’s not a good first year to have,” said Mike Silverstein, the air quality council’s executive director.
Smoke from wildfires near and far
Ground-level ozone pollution forms on hot summer days when volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides react in the sunlight. Those compounds and gases are released by oil and gas wells and refineries, automobiles on the road, fumes from paint and other industrial chemicals, and gas-powered lawn and garden equipment.
It forms a smog that can cause the skies to become brown or hazy, and it is harmful to people, especially those with lung and heart disease, the elderly and children. Ground-level ozone is different than the ozone in the atmosphere that protects Earth from the sun’s powerful rays.
Wildfire smoke blowing from Canada and the Pacific Northwest did not help Colorado’s pollution levels in July, and then multiple fires erupted along the Front Range over the past week, creating homegrown pollution from fine particulate matter such as smoke, soot and ash. Ultimately, though, the heavy smoke days could be wiped from the calculations from 2024, but that decision will be made at a later date.
Still, June also saw multiple high ozone days, and air quality experts say much of the pollution originates at home in Colorado and cannot be blamed on outside influences.
The out-of-state wildfire smoke sent ozone levels skyrocketing the week of July 21 to 27, Silverstein said, but it’s not the reason the numbers are high. The week prior saw ozone levels above federal standards, too, and wildfire smoke had not drifted into the region.
“Pull the wildfires out and we would probably still have had high ozone,” he said.
Jeremy Nichols, senior advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, also warned that wildfires should not be used as an excuse for the region’s air pollution.
“While the wildfires are out of our control, there is a whole bunch of air pollution we can control,” he said. “I don’t want to let that cover up the ugliness that existed here in the first place.”
Nichols blames oil and gas drilling for the region’s smog. The state is not doing enough to regulate the industry, he said.
“We actually need to recognize we are at a point where oil and gas needs to stop drilling on high ozone days,” Nichols said. “Just like we’re told to stay home on high ozone days, business as usual needs to stop. I don’t think we’ve clamped down on them and in many respects they are getting a free pass to pollute.”
One proposal would require drilling companies to eliminate emissions from pneumatic actuating devices, equipment driven by pressurized gas to open and close valves in pipelines, Silverstein said. Oil companies already are required to make 50% of those devices emission-free, and the federal government also is requiring them to be 100% emission-free by 2035. But Colorado’s proposal would accelerate the timeline, he said.
The second proposal would tell companies to stop performing blowdowns, which is when workers vent fumes from pipelines before beginning maintenance to clear explosive gases, when an ozone alert is issued, Silverstein said.
“There are thousands of these very small events, but these small events add up to significant activity,” he said.
Gabby Richmond, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, said the industry supports the new regulations. She said operators also were electrifying operations where possible and voluntarily delaying operational activities on high ozone days.
“Our industry values clean air, and we are committed to pioneering innovative solutions that protect our environment and make Colorado a great place to live,” Richmond said in a statement. “As a part of this commitment, we have significantly reduced ozone-causing emissions by over 50% through technology, regulatory initiatives and voluntary measures — all in the spirit of being good neighbors in the communities where we live and work.”
“Knock down emissions where we can”
Meanwhile, people who live in metro Denver and the northern Front Range are asked to do their part, too.
When the state health department issues an ozone action alert — which is a forecast for high pollution levels — people are asked to limit driving as much as possible. They also are asked to avoid using gas-powered lawn and garden equipment until later in the day when the sun starts dropping behind the mountains and temperatures fall.
It would be easy to blame Colorado’s ozone pollution on its geography, global climate change that is raising temperatures, and pollution blowing from other countries and states, Silverstein said. But Colorado has a responsibility to do its part.
“We have 4 million people and a big oil and gas field and lots of industrial activity and all of the things related to human activity all in one concentrated location with a great mountain backdrop, but it comes with a bit of a price,” he said. “So it’s up to us to find the strategies to knock down emissions where we can.”
Thousands on the National Mall gathered ahead of D.C.’s fireworks celebrations were soaked by passing showers on July 4, 2024. (WTOP/Scott Gelman)
Thousands on the National Mall gathered ahead of D.C.’s fireworks celebrations were soaked by passing showers on July 4, 2024. (WTOP/Scott Gelman)
A few lingering showers are wrapping up on this hot and humid Fourth of July after soaking rain and storms dampened some outdoor celebrations in the D.C. area earlier Thursday evening. Here’s what you need to know.
People dressed in patriotic outfits huddled under umbrellas on the National Mall as rain plummeted on the crowd earlier Thursday evening.
Any isolated showers and thunderstorms are expected to fall apart by sunset in time for the firework displays, according to 7News First Alert meteorologist Jordan Evans. Thousands of people are expected to gather on the mall to watch fireworks extravaganza in the nation’s capital.
After a short break in the wet weather, a couple of storms could form once again overnight.
The weather has cooled off and an earlier heat advisory across the region expired at 8 p.m. Temperatures are expected to be in the 70s overnight.
Showers, storms disrupt July Fourth festivities
The forecast prompted temporary adjustments ahead of “A Capitol Fourth,” according to a social media post from the U.S. Capitol Police. Police closed the entrance to the event for more than an hour Thursday. With the thunderstorms dissipating, police reopened the entrance and the concert is expected to start on time at 8 p.m. on CBS.
The Fourth of July in the District concert on Pennsylvania Avenue was paused due to the wet weather. Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a social media post the rain has stopped and concert will go on.
Those disruptions came after National Weather Service had forecast that some of the storms Thursday could produce strong, gusty winds, lightning and heavy rain.
Poor air quality ahead of fireworks
Earlier in the day, there was poor air quality in some areas. Northern Virginia and D.C. were under a Code Orange air quality alert, according to The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, while Maryland was only facing moderate air quality.
“It’s Code Orange, which is unhealthy for sensitive groups,” said 7News First Alert Chief Meteorologist Veronica Johnson. “If you suffer from lung or heart issues, limit your time outdoors for today.”
The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments said those sensitive groups also include the elderly, people with asthma, pregnant people and children.
The poor air quality is due to particle pollutions, which the nonprofit Clean Air Partners said often occurs when fireworks meet hot weather.
D.C.’s Department of Energy and Environment said that temporary air pollution levels spike around Independence Day and recommend that sensitive groups limit their time outside before and during fireworks shows. The department also recommends wearing an N95 or K-N95 mask to limit exposure to pollution.
Looking ahead — Friday’s weather
A hot and humid pattern is expected to continue throughout the weekend, with a chance of storms revisiting the D.C. area.
“We are gonna be hot and humid Friday and Saturday with afternoon rain chances,” Whelan said. “Dry on Sunday with highs in the low 90s.”
There will be another heat advisory on Friday with highs in the mid- to upper 90s and feels-like temperatures as high as 109, according to the National Weather Service.
Current weather:
Forecast:
FOURTH OF JULY Partly cloudy Risk of showers, storms Highs: 90-95 Heat Index: near 100-105 Winds: Southwest 5-10 mph If thunder roars, head indoors. Fortunately, most of the rain and storm activity should be over by the time the fireworks go off in the 9 p.m. hour.
Thursday NIGHT Mostly cloudy Lows: 75-80 Winds: Southwest 5 mph It will be a warm and muggy night with lows in the 70s.
FRIDAY HEAT ALERT Partly sunny PM storms Highs: 93-97 Heat Index: 100-105 Winds: Southwest 5-10 mph Plan for an even hotter and more humid day to round out the week. High temperatures will soar into the mid-90s, but with the humidity, feels-like temperatures will near 105 degrees. Additional chance for showers and storms are possible during the afternoon and early evening hours.
SATURDAY Partly sunny Highs: 92-96 Winds: Southwest 5-10 mph It will be another very hot and very humid day with feels like temperatures nearing 105 during the afternoon. An isolated shower or storm is possible.
SUNDAY Partly to mostly sunny Highs: 90-95 Winds: Northwest 5-10 mph A drop in humidity is expected to round out the weekend, which will be a welcome change. It will still be hot with afternoon highs in the low to mid 90s.
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Schools in North of Boston and southern New Hampshire communities, including Newburyport, are among the largest recipients of grants in the latest round of Clean School Bus Program awards.
As part of its ongoing effort to replace diesel-fueled school buses, the Biden administration said this week it will provide about 530 school districts across nearly all states with an additional $1 billion to help them purchase clean school buses.
Massachusetts school districts are in line for more than $42 million to purchase electric buses as part of an effort to upgrade the state’s aging fleet and reduce emissions from diesel-powered vehicles.
Newburyport is receiving $3 million for 15 buses, according to the Biden administration.
The Derry Cooperative School District in New Hampshire is receiving one of the largest grants in the region – $8.6 million for 25 electric school buses, thanks to an application submitted by First Student Inc., the transportation contractor for the district.
Several North of Boston school districts are also sharing in the e-bus funding, according to a list provided by the White House. Andover is receiving $5 million for 25 e-buses, while Ipswich is getting $5 million for 15.
Salem is receiving $2.6 million for 13 e-buses, the Biden administration said. Other school districts, including Gloucester, Marblehead, Beverly and the Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School, are also getting funding to buy new e-buses.
In addition to Derry, eight other New Hampshire districts such as Concord and Nashua will receive some of the funding, according to the White House. The money comes from the latest disbursements of grants through the Clean School Bus Program administered by the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection.
The rebates will help school districts purchase more than 3,400 clean school buses – 92% of them electric – to accelerate the nation’s transition to zero-emission vehicles and produce cleaner air in schools and communities, according to the Biden administration.
EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday that the funding will help “transform the nation’s school bus fleet to better protect our most precious cargo – our kids – saving school districts money, improving air quality, and bolstering American manufacturing all at the same time.”
The federal program has awarded nearly $3 billion for 8,500 electric and alternative fuel buses in more than 1,000 school districts, according to the Biden administration.
Low-income, rural and tribal communities – accounting for about 45% percent of the selected projects – are slated to receive roughly 67% of the total funding, per the administration.
Regan noted how “low-income communities and communities of color have long felt the disproportionate impacts of air pollution leading to severe health outcomes that continue to impact these populations.”
As for business and economic opportunities, Regan pointed to the development of well-paying manufacturing jobs and investment in local businesses stemming from the increasing demand for these clean school buses.
“As more and more schools make the switch to electric buses, there will be a need for American-made batteries, charging stations and service providers to maintain the buses supercharging and reinvigorating local economies,” he added.
The program was initially funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by Biden in November 2021, which includes $5 billion over five years to replace the country’s current school buses with “zero-emission and low-emission models.”
In January, the EPA announced more than $1 billion in funding for 2,700 clean school buses in 280 school districts in 37 states, including Massachusetts.
Federal health officials say exposure to diesel exhaust can lead to major health conditions such as asthma and respiratory illnesses, especially among children.
Despite the Biden administration’s efforts, e-buses still make up a tiny percentage of the buses on the roads nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The number of e-buses grew by 112% between 2018 and 2021. But with just 1,300 on the roadways in 2021, that represented just 2% of the transit buses in operation, according to DOT data. Of about 500,000 school buses nationwide, only 1,800 were electric in 2021, the federal agency said.
Material from States Newsroom reporter Shauneen Miranda was used in this report.
1988 – Runs for the Democratic Party nomination for president in the 1988 election. Later drops out of the race.
July 9, 1992 – Bill Clinton chooses Gore to be his running mate in the 1992 presidential election.
1992 – Publishes “Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit.”
January 20, 1993 – Inaugurated as vice president.
January 20, 1997 – Second term as vice president begins.
March 9, 1999 – Gore states in an interview on CNN with Wolf Blitzer, “During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country’s economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system.” This quote creates a large amount of rhetoric with his opponents.
June 16, 1999 – Announces his intention to run for president in the 2000 election.
August 16, 2000 – Wins the Democratic Party nomination.
November 7, 2000 – Election Day.
November 8, 2000 – Concedes in the early morning to George W. Bush but later retracts his concession. Florida is too close to call for either Bush or Gore.
May 4, 2004 – Announces intention to purchase Newsworld International from Vivendi Universal SA for an undisclosed price and plans to transform it into a network aimed at viewers ages 18-35.
August 1, 2005 – Gore’s cable television channel, Current TV, debuts.
February 9, 2007 – Joins Sir Richard Branson at a press conference announcing the $25 million Virgin Earth Challenge, a prize for a design to safely remove man-made greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Gore and Branson are among the judges.
February 15, 2007 – Announces a series of concerts called Live Earth to be held on all seven continents on July 7, 2007. The 24-hour music event is the kickoff of a campaign to “Save Our Selves (SOS).”
February 25, 2007 – “An Inconvenient Truth” wins an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
March 21, 2007 – Testifies at separate House and Senate events, urging legislation to curb climate change.
October 12, 2007 – Is co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for work on global warming. The prize is shared with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
October 26, 2007 – Receives the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation.
November 12, 2007 – Announces he is joining the venture capital firm of Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers. He will help the company invest in start-up “green” companies. Gore will also donate his salary to the Alliance for Climate Protection.
February 12, 2009 – Receives the NAACP Chairman’s Award during the annual Image Award ceremony. The honor is given in recognition of special achievement and distinguished public service. This year’s award is shared with Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai.
January 2, 2013 – Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera purchases Current TV for a reported $500 million, personally netting Gore an estimated $70 million.
