Canadian fire smoke threatens air quality in Canada, US as it reaches Europe
Canada's wildfires, which have already forced evacuations of more than 26,000 people, continued their stubborn spread Tuesday, with heavy smoke choking millions of Canadians and Americans and reaching as far away as Europe.
Alerts were issued for parts of Canada and the neighboring United States warning of hazardous air quality.
A water tanker air base was consumed by flames in Saskatchewan province, oil production has been disrupted in Alberta, and officials warned of worse to come with more communities threatened each day.
"We have some challenging days ahead of us," Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe told a news conference, adding that the number of evacuees could rise quickly.
Every summer, Canada grapples with forest fires, but an early start to the wildfire season this year and the scale of the blazes -- over two million hectares (494,000 acres) burned -- is worrying.
Read moreClimate change made LA wildfires worse, says study
The provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba have been hardest hit. Both declared wildfire emergencies in recent days.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Read more on FRANCE 24 EnglishRead also:South Korea firefighters deploy helicopters as country's largest wildfires reigniteWildfire on remote French island threatens wildlife and research station
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Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'Lungs of the Earth': the Indonesians fighting for peatland
Indonesian environmentalist Pralensa steered his boat through a shallow canal in the marshy peatlands near his village, an environment he fears may soon disappear. His oar stirred up rich organic material in the brackish water, evidence of the layers of plant matter that make peatlands vital carbon dioxide stores and key to biodiversity. Indonesia has more tropical peatland than any other country, but it is also quickly losing this poorly understood ecosystem. That affects local residents and wildlife but also has global impacts, because converted peatland can release vast quantities of planet-warming carbon dioxide. Just 18.4 percent of Indonesia's peatlands remain "undisturbed", a 2023 study found,with vast tracts now palm oil or timber plantations. Pralensa worries a similar fate awaits much of the swampy peatland around his village of Lebung Itam in South Sumatra. Locals say palm oil firm Bintang Harapan Palma has already begun digging canals to drain the peatlands for planting. "We protested... we told them this is a community-managed area," said Pralensa, who, like many Indonesians, uses a single name. "According to them, they already have rights to this land." Bintang Harapan Palma did not respond to AFP's request for comment. Peatlands are an in-between place -- seemingly neither water nor land -- an environment that slows plant decomposition and forms carbon-rich peat. Covering just three percent of the world's surface, they hold an estimated 44 percent of all soil carbon. Indonesia's peatlands are home to endangered orangutans, as well as economically important fish species. They also help prevent flooding and drought, lower local temperatures and minimise saltwater intrusion. For Pralensa, peatlands are no less than a "spiritual bond". "From the moment that we exist, that we're born, we are aware of this peatland. We encounter it every moment of every day," the 44-year-old said. - Catastrophic fires - Indonesia's peatland has long been converted for agriculture, drained of the water that is its lifeblood, with severe consequences. Dry peat is highly flammable, and fire can smoulder underground and reignite seemingly at will. Peatlands were a leading cause of Indonesia's catastrophic 2015 fires, which burned through an area about 4.5 times the size of Bali and cost the country some $16.1 billion, or about two percent of GDP,according to the World Bank. The blazes sparked calls for action, including a moratorium on new peatland concessions. Government regulations adopted the following year banned several damaging activities, including burning and drying out peatland. The environment ministry did not respond to questions submitted by AFP. "Weak oversight and law enforcement in Indonesia allow the exploitation of peatlands to continue," said Wahyu Perdana at peatland preservation NGO Pantau Gambut. And fires still happen "almost every year," said Rohman, a farmer in Bangsal village, around two hours west of Lebung Itam. Like Lebung Itam, it is ringed by plantations on converted peatland. Bangsal residents could once rely on vast wetlands to feed their distinctive buffalo, which dive beneath the water to graze. Fish traps supplied additional income, along with small rice paddies. Now, buffalo are hemmed in by plantations, while fish are affected by walls that keep the plantations dry, and fertilisers and herbicides flushed outby rain. - 'We must protect nature' - Plantation infrastructure prevents water from subsiding properly when the rains end, complicating rice planting And then there is the seasonal haze. "It's difficult to do anything" when it descends, said Rohman, with visibility sometimes dropping to just a few metres. Everything from "economic activity to children playing and learning is very disrupted". Rohman, 53, was one of several plaintiffs from Bangsal and Lebung Itam who filed a landmark lawsuit over the fires. They argued three companies with nearby timber plantations on peatland bore legal responsibility for the health, economic and social impacts of local fires. Filing the suit was not an easy decision, said Bangsal schoolteacher Marda Ellius, who alleges a company named in the case offered her money and help for her family if she withdrew. "I kept thinking that, from the beginning, my goal here was for the environment, for many people," she said. "I chose to continue." AFP could not reach the companies named in the suit. Major firm Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), which buys from the three companies, did not respond. This month, a local court rejected the suit, saying the plaintiffs lacked standing. "The pain cannot be described," plaintiff Muhammad Awal Gunadi said of the ruling. "It was tough because we were facing corporations. The group has pledged to appeal, and Bangsal's villagers are lobbying local government for a new designation to protect their remaining peatland. Healthy peat is "like the lungs of the Earth," said Bangsal resident and buffalo farmer Muhammad Husin. "Hopefully, if we protect nature, nature will also protect us." mrc-sah/jfx/lb
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Puerto Rico's community-owned solar power: alternative to frequent blackouts
Enid Medina Guzman always has candles on hand -- not for creating ambiance, but because one of the blackouts that plague Puerto Rico could strike at any time. But she is hopeful the lingering hardship will soon be a thing of the past: solar panels are being installed on her home as part of a community program promoting energy independence. At her house nestled high in the mountains of the lush tropical forests of the archipelago's central city Adjuntas, "it rains a lot and when there's a little wind, the power goes out really quickly," Medina Guzman told AFP. She has lived in Adjuntas, which has a population of about 20,000, virtually all her life. She said blackouts have always been a feature. "Sometimes it's at night when it's super hot, and you can't sleep, you can't rest," the 60-year-old said. "It's difficult." Puerto Rico is a Caribbean territory of more than three million people that has been under US control since 1898. Its chronic infrastructure woes were exacerbated by 2017's devastating Hurricane Maria, which razed the island's already deteriorating power grid. After the massive storm, it took roughly 11 months to restore power across the island. The electrical grid went private in June 2021 in an apparent effort to resolve the problem of perennial blackouts. But outages persist: this past year, Puerto Rico experienced massive blackouts in April and also on New Year's Eve. "It's not normal," Medina Guzman said, as a crew installed the battery that will soon store captured energy from the sun. - 'Hands of the people' - Like everywhere in Puerto Rico, Adjuntas went dark during Maria -- but in the city's main square, a pink, 1920s-era house was a beacon of light. It was Casa Pueblo, the nucleus of a grassroots non-profit focused on ecological protection and community support. It became a haven in the storm's aftermath: the solar panels on its roof meant Casa Pueblo had precious power. People could charge their electronic devices, and crucially plug in medical equipment like oxygen machines. Cell towers and power lines were down, but Casa Pueblo's community radio station still functioned, becoming a vital source of information in the mountain town. Casa Pueblo came into being in 1980 -- the brainchild of a citizens group whose original mission was to thwart a series of planned open-pit mines in the region. They were successful. Over the years, the organization bloomed into a model of bottom-up energy independence, on an island frequently hampered by economic crisis and natural disaster. "Our aspiration isn't just a technological transition away from fossil fuels to solar. Yes, we need to produce clean and renewable energy, but we are aspiring towards a transformation -- a just, eco-social transition," said Casa Pueblo's director Arturo Massol Deya, a biologist by training. "That means the energy infrastructure being in the hands of the people," added Massol Deya, whose parents were the group's original founders. - 'Path to change' - Among Casa Pueblo's efforts is sustaining a community solar belt that gives vulnerable populations control over their own energy. The group also has distributed solar lamps and solar refrigerators, especially in rural communities. Casa Pueblo has so far helped install solar panels on nearly 300 homes, with over 400 projects in total including businesses. Massol Deya told AFP those initiatives are primarily funded through grassroots donations and philanthropy. Their microgrids -- a localized energy system -- are interconnected and self-sufficient. And net metering -- a billing mechanism that credits consumers for excess power produced from renewable systems -- allows Casa Pueblo's center to sell back what it doesn't use. That is particularly meaningful given that average Puerto Ricans pay more than double the price for electricity than mainland US residents, according to US Energy Information Administration data. "The traditional model is a unilateral, exploitative, monopolistic, dictatorial model," Massol Deya said. "They decide the price of fuel and whether they give it to you or not. Sometimes they fail and can't provide the service," he said. "This energy insecurity translates to many issues -- well, not anymore." Approximately 10 percent of Puerto Rican households currently have solar panels, according to the energy authority, a number that reflects households with net-metering agreements. There is no publicly available data for structures that operate off-grid. Sergio Rivera Rodriguez is part of a team of academic researchers studying the public health impact of energy security on populations like those in Adjuntas. He told AFP the Casa Pueblo model could be successful elsewhere. "I think it's making a difference -- it's of course just one municipality," he said. But "structural changes take years." Casa Pueblo functions above all, Massol Deya said, because it is a social program that fosters communal control of resources. "The people are doing it," he said. "This is the path to change." mdo/sst
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Planned Parenthood closes 5 Northern California clinics, citing Trump budget bill
President Donald Trump's budget cuts to Medicaid have forced Planned Parenthood Mar Monte to shutter five clinics across Northern California and the Central Coast, including one in South San Francisco, the group said Thursday. The GOP-led federal spending bill that Trump signed into law earlier this month eliminated federal Medicaid funding for any type of medical care to organizations that perform abortions. Mar Monte is the largest Planned Parenthood affiliate in the country, with health care centers from Bakersfield, the Bay Area, Stockton and Sacramento. The now-shuttered facilities also include San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Gilroy and Madera. The closures represent the first wave of how the recent federal budget cuts will have real-life consequences for health clinics across the country — particularly for low-income Americans. They are also a crushing blow to a state that set it up to be an abortion haven after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. In the year after the decision, political leaders in California — led by Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democratic-controlled Legislature — passed more than a dozen new laws and invested more than $200 million to increase access across the state. Thursday's announcement drives home the extent of the federal government's tremendous power to impact abortion access. Roughly 80% of Mar Monte's patients received Medi-Cal, California's version of Medicaid. Ten million people are expected to lose their health insurance because of nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Meanwhile, the wealthiest Americans will receive a disproportionate share of the tax cuts funded by those cuts, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. In just one week since Mar Monte stopped billing Medicaid, the Planned Parenthood affiliate with 35 locations said it saw 5,000 patients — amounting to about $1.7 million in care costs it covered without reimbursement — Mar Monte Chief of Staff Andrew Adams told the Chronicle Thursday. 'It's just not sustainable,' said Adams. 'We can't keep our doors open if we continue doing that.' Mar Monte said the funding law also forced it to end services in family medicine, behavioral health and prenatal care. The Planned Parenthood affiliate estimates it will lose $100 million in annual revenue from care that can no longer be reimbursed under the law because they provide abortion care. Americans tend to support abortion rights, according to public polling. A May 2025 Gallup Poll found that 51% of respondents described themselves as 'pro choice' while 43% described themselves as 'pro life.'Of those respondents who said they were 'dissatisfied' with the nation's abortion polices, 42% said they would like to see them made 'less strict' while 14% wanted them to be 'stricter.'
