All articles tagged with #haze
El Niño-driven blazes are sweeping across Indonesia’s Kalimantan and Sumatra, destroying forests and peatlands, forcing wildlife evacuations and triggering smoke that has reached Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. About 94,000 hectares burned in July, with rain unlikely to quell blazes until November and the government mobilizing resources as arrests rise for intentional land burning.
Malaysia has declared a state of emergency in Serian, Sarawak, after haze from Indonesian wildfires pushed air pollution to hazardous levels. The move closes 647 schools and many offices, with only essential services operating, and extends a three-day cloud-seeding program. The emergency applies only to Serian, while air quality remains a concern for other parts of Sabah, Peninsular Malaysia, and neighboring countries monitoring the situation.
A toxic haze from Indonesia’s ongoing forest and peat fires—intensified by a ‘super’ El Niño—has spread to Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, exposing millions and driving pollution to unhealthy levels and thousands of respiratory infections, including many children; peatland drainage and large-scale land use amplify fire risk and carbon release, and authorities warn the season could worsen in the coming months.
Massive fires in Indonesian Borneo’s Kalimantan, intensified by a strong El Niño, are creating a regional haze that sickens thousands weekly, disrupts schools and work, and spurs government crackdowns on land-clearing burnings while experts warn that peatland drainage and deforestation drive the fires and call for restoration to prevent deeper soil fires.
Indonesia arrested 72 people on suspicion of starting forest fires that have burned across parts of Borneo and Sumatra, with thousands of hot spots detected and peatland blazes driving hazardous haze. Authorities have deployed aerial firefighting and cloud-seeding, while rainfall is urged to help extinguish embers and clear the smoke.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a unique, multi-layered blue haze on Pluto that influences its climate, making it a new kind of climate in our solar system. This haze, composed of complex organic molecules, absorbs sunlight and cools the atmosphere, explaining Pluto's unexpectedly low temperatures. The findings could have implications for understanding other hazy celestial bodies and Earth's early climate.
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists discovered a unique, multi-layered haze on Pluto that influences its climate, challenging previous assumptions and suggesting similar phenomena could exist on other celestial bodies and even offer insights into Earth's early climate.
The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a hazy layer over Pluto that cools its atmosphere and helps methane escape, providing new insights into the dwarf planet's atmospheric dynamics and composition, and revealing similarities to hazes on Titan and early Earth.
A study using data from NASA's New Horizons and the James Webb Space Telescope confirms that haze particles in Pluto's atmosphere play a significant role in cooling it, validating a controversial hypothesis and offering insights into extreme atmospheric phenomena and early Earth conditions.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope confirmed a hypothesis that Pluto's haze particles control its atmospheric heat balance, supporting earlier predictions and revealing new insights into its atmospheric chemistry and surface processes, with implications for understanding other celestial bodies and early Earth conditions.
A large Sahara dust cloud is covering the Caribbean and heading towards the U.S., causing hazy skies and health warnings, with the highest concentration this year and potential impacts on air quality and sunlight.
Hazy weather continues to blanket Beijing and parts of north China, with poor atmospheric diffusion and weak cold air currents contributing to the smog. Visibility in Beijing dropped to less than 500 meters, while heavy winter fog further reduced visibility in Hebei province and Tianjin city. Moderate to heavy air pollution is expected in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area until Thursday. Unusually warm temperatures, breaking records in some cities, are expected to persist until Thursday when cold air is forecasted to push temperatures lower.
Indonesia's environment minister defended the country's efforts to combat forest fires and haze, stating that they are using water bombing from helicopters and cloud seeding to control the fires. Malaysia had urged Indonesia and other Southeast Asian nations to take action against the worsening air quality caused by slash-and-burn land clearing for plantations. However, the Indonesian minister denied that hazardous haze was crossing borders and stated that no haze has been detected heading towards Malaysia. Forest fires are reportedly on the decline in Sumatra and Borneo. ASEAN members have pledged to phase out crop burning and take collective action to minimize its adverse environmental and health impacts.
Portland, Oregon is expected to experience a hot and hazy weekend with temperatures reaching the mid-90s before cooling off. Relief is expected on Sunday night with a 20% chance of showers, increasing to 80% on Tuesday. High temperatures will dip into the 80s and 70s for the rest of the week.
The comfortable warmth of today will be replaced by hotter and slightly muggier air on Sunday, with temperatures aiming for 90 degrees to the low 90s. While wildfire smoke may cause some haze in the sky, it won't affect sunburn chances or skin cancer risk. Near-surface smoke causing air-quality problems is currently minimal, but a thicker band of suspended smoke is expected to move in tonight and into midday Sunday. However, air-quality projections indicate only moderate levels of pollution at worst.