Xcel Energy is investing in high-res cameras that talk to algorithms trained to identify wisps of smoke long before they erupt into wildfire
wildfire smoke
Posted inEnvironment
How do you clear Colorado wildfire smoke from a house? Start scrubbing.
Health-hitting particles linger on surfaces, researchers find, so scrubbing may do more than air filters
Posted inClimate
Is climate change making Colorado’s weather crazier? Yes.
Q&A with a NOAA meteorologist connects rising carbon to Southwestern heat domes, Canadian wildfires, Phoenix furnace and more
Posted inEnvironment
Parts of Colorado’s Front Range have topped ozone limits for nearly 20 years. Will they ever do better?
The question is whether the 9-county nonattainment area will one day meet EPA air quality thresholds, as Atlanta did this year, or become a perennial offender like Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Posted inEnvironment
Colorado ozone accelerated by smoke from out-of-state wildfires, study shows
NOAA analysis of 2021 West Coast fires shows need for state to cut locally produced ozone to meet EPA rules, authors say
Posted inHealth
Depressed? Anxious? Colorado’s Front Range air pollution may be a factor
Research shows long-term exposure to even low levels of fine particulate matter, NOx chemicals increases occurrence of depression, anxiety. Ozone is a factor in neurodegeneration and memory loss.
Posted inHealth, News, Wildfire
Avista hospital closed for foreseeable future after oxygen tanks had a near miss with Marshall fire
Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville narrowly avoided a “catastrophic explosion” Thursday afternoon when flames from the Marshall fire came within 4 feet of flammable oxygen tanks on the hospital’s west side, hospital officials said. Facilities staff fought back the flames with hoses, said Lindsay Radford, a spokeswoman for Centura Health, the network that includes Avista. […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: The air inside Colorado schools needs to be cleaned up
In the West, summers have become long and hot. What we used to call wildfire season has now become a year-round phenomenon. Even though the kids are back in school, we are still seeing wildfire affecting our Colorado communities. I’ve lived and worked in Colorado for many years. In my position as U.S. Environmental Protection […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, Health, News, Wildfire
Smoke from faraway wildfires may be worse for Coloradans than if it came from blazes in their own backyards
For long stretches of the summer the Front Range has been bathed in smoke traveling hundreds of miles from California and Oregon wildfires and it turns out that long-range smoke could be more dangerous than the fumes from homegrown forest fires. Some initial studies have shown that long-range smoke may be more toxic and since […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News, Wildfire
Wildfire smoke drives people in low-vaccinated areas indoors, raising outbreak fears
By Aaron Bolton, Kaiser Health News MISSOULA, Mont. — Missoula’s new downtown library was teeming with people who might typically spend a Saturday afternoon hiking, biking or otherwise making the most of Montana’s abundant outdoor recreation. One look at the soupy haze blanketing the city and it was clear why. “We’re definitely trying to stay […]