Smoke from a wildfire obscures a stand of trees on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, near Ashland, Mont. In southeastern Montana, communities in and around the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation were ordered to evacuate as the Richard Spring Fire grew amid erratic winds. (Matthew Brown/Associated Press)
August 12, 2021
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Gaps in wildfire smoke warning network leave many exposed
Huge gaps between air quality sensors in the western U.S. have created blind spots in the warning system for wildfire smoke plumes sweeping North America this summer, amid growing concern over potential health impacts to millions of people exposed to the pollution.
Does Gov. Gianforte have a plan for climate change?
Between an expansive drought bringing rivers and soil moisture to alarmingly low levels, a series of heat waves that have set scores of temperature records across the region, and a fast and furious start to a wildfire season that's obscured many Montana horizons behind a haze of smoke, this summer has announced itself as a tipping point for conversations on climate change.