The smoke from s may be even more than usual
A legacy of means that could be carried along plumes of smoke.
by Matt Simon, June 5, 2025
"More than 200 wildfires are blazing across central and western Canada, half of which are out of control because theyre so hard for crews to access, forcing 27,000 people to evacuate. Even those nowhere near the wildfires are suffering as smoke swirls around Canada and wafts south, creating hazardous air quality all over the midwestern and eastern parts of the United States. The smoke is even reaching Europe.
"As the climate changes, the far north is drying and warming, which means wildfires are getting bigger and more intense. The area burned in Canada is now the second largest on record for this time of year, trailing behind the brutal wildfire season of 2023. That year, the amount of blazed into the atmosphere was about three times the countrys emissions. And the more carbon thats emitted from wildfires in Canada and elsewhere the faster the , and the worse the fires.
" 'Theres obviously the concern,' said Mike Waddington, an environmental scientist at McMaster University in Ontario who studies Canadas forests. 'But increasingly were also concerned about the smoke.'
"Thats because theres much more to wildfire smoke than charred sticks and leaves, especially where these blazes are burning in Canada. The countrys have long been , operations that loaded and with like and , especially before clean-air standards kicked in 50 years ago. Now everyone downwind of these wildfires may have to contend with that legacy and those pollutants, in addition to all the other nasties inherent in , which are known to exacerbate respiratory and cardiac problems.
" 'You have there the burning of these organic soils resulting in a lot of carbon and a lot of ,' said Waddington. 'Now you have this triple whammy, where you have the metals in addition to that.'
"What exactly is lurking in the smoke from Canadian wildfires will require further testing by scientists. But an area of particular concern is around the mining city of , in , which is known to have elevated levels of toxic metals in the landscape, said Colin McCarter, an environmental scientist who studies pollutants at Ontarios . Flin Flons 5,000 residents have been evacuated as a wildfire approaches, though so far no structures have been destroyed.
"But a fire doesnt need to directly burn mining operations to mobilize toxicants. For example, in , in Canadas , operations between 1934 and 2004 spread as far as 18 miles away, adding to a landscape with an already high concentration of naturally occurring arsenic. In a paper published last year, Waddington and McCarter estimated that between 1972 and 2023, wildfires around Yellowknife fired up to 840,000 pounds of arsenic into the atmosphere. Arsenic is a known carcinogen associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and developmental problems, according to the World Health Organization. (After the 2023 in Maui, officials reported elevated levels of arsenic, lead, and other toxic substances in ash samples. California officials also found lots of lead in smoke from 2018s .)"
Source:
is desperate to stop from being used. If he really wants to talk about trash lets talk about in our and or in the
ca. July 1999. Kuhmo, Finland. Wirgin Edixa Prismat, Porst Weitwinkel 1:3.5/35mm, Kodak Gold 400 film.Removes Record Number of
Hundreds of , , and dismantled in 2024 to help resume natural course.
Record number of river-blocking barriers removed in Europe, report says
Hundreds of dams, weirs, culverts and sluices dismantled in 2024 to help resume natural course
See also my feature on from last May, which is now in the open archives:
Flock of Gulls
Lens: Tamron 18-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di III-A VC VXD on a Fujifilm X-T30
May 29, 2023. Oulu, Finland. Nikon D780, AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G.The worlds leading natural historian draws on a lifetime of knowledge to reveal how Earths vast, interconnected can be restored.
Fly By
Convoy of gulls passing by
Lens: Tamron 18-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di III-A VC VXD on a Fujifilm X-T30
Are there any that are safe for and Ive got a large area to deal with and looking to not have to pull them.
Remember the Urunga wetlands waste tailings rich in antimony, arsenic, lead and cyanide
"For five years in the 1960s and 1970s, antimony and other heavy metals leached from an ore processing plant into the melaleuca wetlands. The wetlands used to open up into a moonscape of light grey sand with not a single bit of vegetation."
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Now they want to go for Wild Cattle Creek 'high-grade and high-tonnage' antimony-gold mining >>
A Clarence Catchment Alliance community meeting
is being hosted by the Bellingen Environment Centre,
with Blicks River Guardians and Lock the Gate Nambucca,
from 2pm on Friday May 31 at 16 Cudgery St, Dorrigo.
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Waternet Global Waterways New Global Dataset That Predicts The Locations Of Waterways Around The World
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<-- shared project page
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<-- shared WaterNet Explorer web map
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H/T ()
BridgestoProsperity
Resting Gulls
The Kissing Rocks.15-Apr-2025
Coastal threatened by climate change
Humans have always lived by and , and thus these locations are rich with sites. Natural and cultural resource management are conducted separately, despite the fact that climate change, , and threaten them both.
More bad news, not surprising as this has been an issue in Swiss lakes for ages
Ripples, Reeds and Reflections. Make America Healthy Again, Part 2Over a billion pounds of Coke plastic waste to enter waterways: Study
The Murray is starting to call. We'll be heading up next Friday 4th April, for a five-day regenerative, immersive journey. Making an intentional return to our intrinsic place within nature's living systems. We can't wait. Feeling the pull There's a few spots left if you'd like to join us we'd love to have you there.
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Zac Edmonds, Unsplash
Over a billion pounds of Coke plastic waste to enter waterways: Study
November 25, 2018. Oulu, Finland. Nokia 5.Human pollution clogs waterways all over Australia
"Aquatic pollution has emerged as an increasingly critical issue in Australia, impacting environmental health, public safety and our native wildlife."
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Mayor Sadiq Khan has brought together a landmark coalition of government, businesses, charities, and community groups to improve s . Over 1.8 billion will be invested in the next five years to clean and protect the capital's . Key initiatives include 7.15 million in funding to reduce road run-off pollution, improve flood resilience, and support large-scale rewilding projects. Water is investing 1.8 billion in river health, including tackling sewage overflows on tributaries. Trust will invest 800,000 in local projects. The Mayors initiative also addresses inequality in access to natural spaces, with research showing lower-income and Black/Asian communities are less likely to visit waterways. This collaboration aims to make rivers cleaner, more accessible, and beneficial for both people and wildlife, aligning with Sadiq's 10-year Clean and Healthy Waterways Plan.