ACOM News

Wildfire smoke blankets east coast

Rebecca Hornbrook discusses a new era of pollution due to wildfires

Aug 24, 2023

From Quebec to British Columbia to Hawaii, North America is facing an extraordinary wildfire season -- and regions both near and far have found themselves increasingly blighted by smoke exposure. (France 24)

Brett Palm interviewed by BBC World news - June 2023

Brett Palm interviewed by BBC World News

Jul 28, 2023

ACOM Scientist Brett Palm spoke with BBC World News correspondent Victoria Valentine about the influx of smoke from Quebec wildfires into the east coast cities of New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. Measured levels of PM2.5 were high enough to cause health concerns.

Massive smoke plumes from fires over Canada - 20 May 2023

Brett Palm contributes to news coverage of wildfire smoke

Jun 28, 2023

Smoke from wildfires in Canada brought record-breaking air pollution to the United States this spring, creating dangerous air quality from Bismarck, N.D., to Denver and Detroit to New York City and Washington. (The Washington Post)

Image at Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wildfire_Smoke_(52959146140).jpg

What’s actually in all that smoke you’re breathing

Jun 12, 2023

Billowing clouds of Canadian wildfire smoke have transformed blue skies into apocalyptic orange scenes across the eastern United States.

Image at Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barrington_Lake_Fire,_Nova_Scotia,_Canada_-_28_May_2023_(52936128956).jpg

Air quality levels in parts of the U.S. plunge as Canada wildfires rage

Jun 12, 2023

Canada is experiencing one of the worst starts to its wildfire season ever recorded.

Wildfire Smoke in New York City, NY

Rebecca Hornbrook discusses health hazards from wildfire smoke

Jun 12, 2023

Smoke from wildfires in Canada has engulfed the East Coast, cloaking cities in a hazy smog and putting some 100 million people under air quality alerts.

Doug Kinnison comments on wildfires and ozone

Doug Kinnison comments on wildfires harming the ozone layer

May 25, 2023

Smoke from the Canadian wildfires is once again hazing up the Front Range. Not only is it unpleasant to breathe, new research shows that smoke can erode the protective ozone layer.
9News, Denver, Colorado

Smoky, hazy air over Chautauqua

Why did Boulder, CO look like this on May 20, 2023?

May 23, 2023

Residents of Boulder, Colorado were greeted with an unwelcome visitor this week: a decline in air quality that left them with hazy skies and concerns about their well-being. The source of this phenomenon, as it turned out, lay far beyond the state borders.

TEMPO satellite launch

ACOM scientists celebrate launch of TEMPO satellite

Apr 5, 2023

David Edwards attended the launch of the TEMPO satellite instrument to monitor air quality over North America and in an article for Science magazine, Gabi Pfister commented on how TEMPO will help understand the complexity of air pollution over Colorado's Front Range.

Flyer for Remote Sensing Initiative workshop

UCAR Remote Sensing Initiative Workshop

Mar 9, 2023

UCAR Center Green 1 Auditorium
Sign up now until May 1, 2023.
Click for more information.

Grape pickers, from Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grape_workers.jpg   Photo credit: Tomas Castelazo, 6 September 2003.

How dangerous is wildfire season for US farmworkers?

Oct 11, 2022

ACOM scientist Rebecca Hornbrook contributed to an article at USA Today on the impacts of wildfire smoke on agricultural workers.

ACCLIP research flight 03 on August 6, 2022.

ACCLIP field campaign investigates monsoon-climate connections

Aug 16, 2022

During August 2022, two research aircraft will allow a team of international scientists to study how the Asian summer monsoon affects atmospheric chemistry and global climate.

Sonoma County Fires - 14 October 2017 250px. Wikimedia Commons, California National Guard.

Becky Hornbook comments on "ag passes" for vineyard workers during wildfires

Jun 27, 2022

Wildfire evacuation access permits (the so-called interim “ag passes”) were first issued in 2017 for Sonoma and Napa counties, allowing vineyard and livestock workers in Northern California to gain access during fires and other natural disasters.

Aerosols Untangle Carbon Monoxide - NASA - 27 May 2022 250px

How Aerosols Helped Untangle Carbon Monoxide Trends

Jun 27, 2022

NASA’s Terra satellite has been taking measurements of Earth’s atmosphere for more than two decades. One of the five sensors on board, Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT), makes daily measurements of the air pollutant carbon monoxide.

Global Decline in CarbonMonoxide - NASA - 26 May 2022 250px

A Global Decline in Carbon Monoxide

Jun 27, 2022

For more than two decades, NASA’s Terra satellite has measured atmospheric concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO).

An Oregon wildfire burns in 2013. The increasingly widespread wildfires in the Pacific Northwest are affecting air pollution across North America. (Photo by Bureau of Land Management.)

Pacific Northwest wildfires alter air pollution patterns across North America

Apr 26, 2022

Rebecca Buchholz led a study on large and intense wildfires in the US Pacific Northwest.

NASA false-color view of total ozone over the Arctic pole on October 3, 2021.

Protecting the ozone layer is delivering vast health benefits

Oct 11, 2021

An international agreement to protect the ozone layer is expected to prevent 443 million cases of skin cancer and 63 million cataract cases for people born in the United States through the end of this century.

Sunset over the Colorado Front Range on August 5, 2021. Photo by Carl Drews from Niwot, Colorado.

How much is the wildfire smoke affecting Wyoming's air quality?

Aug 12, 2021

ACOM scientist Brett Palm contributed to an article in the Casper Star Tribune regarding the summer wildfires and Wyoming air quality.

View of Denver Skyline from South Table Mountain. US Department of Energy - 28 September 2012, 08:06 AM. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._Department_of_Energy_-_Science_-_298_047_001_(27040059996).jpg

Ozone pollution along the Colorado Front Range

Jun 21, 2021

ACOM scientist Frank Flocke contributed to an article at the Colorado Sun discussing ozone pollution along the Front Range.

Palaces, avenues, buildings, parks, and scenery around China's Capital. The white Pagoda at Beihai from Jinshan Hill (27 September 2013). Photo by Yinan Chen at Wikimedia Commons.

COVID-19 lockdowns linked to pollution spikes in some cities

Apr 14, 2021

Lockdowns during 2020 in response to COVID-19 resulted in drastic cuts to emissions, especially from vehicle tailpipes, and yet some urban areas saw a paradoxical spike in ozone air pollution.