PLASTIC-smelling toxic smoke is shrouding the Great Lakes, Upper Midwest and Northeast. Have you noticed it doesn't smell like smoke?

That's because of chemical reactions catalyzed by sunlight.

When you smell campfire smoke, you’re getting the smoke immediately after it’s been produced. This is “aged” smoke that’s festered for a few days.

It contains longer-lived volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that remain even after larger biomass molecules settle out. Instead, benzenes, formaldehydes and acroleins stick around, known for industrial or chemical smells. Formaldehyde in particular has a plastic scent.

As of Friday morning, Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C. and New York City were the most polluted major cities in the world – exceeding Delhi and Kolkata, India, Jakarta, Indonesia and most major cities in China.

The smoke isn’t just annoying – it’s legitimately dangerous. It’s made up of microscopic particulates known as PM2.5, or itty-bitty particles less than 2.5 micrometers in width. That’s about 30 times thinner than a human hair.

Breathing them in is bad – it increases risk of heart attack, respiratory issues, etc. You may also notice your eyes stinging.

Some more on the CO river story
Seems a rather simple solution is - stop feeding so many cows.

A major Colorado River decision looms. Here's how it will affect millions.


The federal government is poised to announce a major decision about the fate of the shrinking Colorado River — a crucial water supply for 40 million people across two countries, seven states and 30 tribes.

Over the past few decades, the worst drought in at least a millennium has parched the Western landscape and caused reservoirs to dwindle. A historically warm and snowless winter reduced this year’s flow to a trickle. Water levels behind two of the nation’s largest dams are in danger of dropping so low that the dams stop functioning.

The overwhelming majority of river water — roughly 75 percent of direct human use — goes to agriculture, primarily for irrigating feed crops for cattle. Some 5.5 million acres of farmland are irrigated from the Colorado.

The fundamental principle governing the Colorado River is known as “first in time, first in right.” In other words, the earlier someone started using water from the river, the higher their priority if supplies run short. More junior users, which include several large cities and newer farming areas, are the first to see reductions during dry spells. These users could theoretically lose their entire allocation before more senior rights holders are forced to make any cuts.

Since 2000, research shows, Colorado River flows have been about 30 percent less than in the early 20th century, when the compact was negotiated.

Experts say it appears increasingly possible that the Supreme Court will wind up deciding the Colorado River’s future — a scenario states were once desperate to avoid.

“There’s a fair number of people who say leaving these decisions to the states hasn’t worked,” Kenney said.

 islander wrote:

"Without major intervention" basically means pray for rain. They can shuffle the water around all they want but there is only so much to move from dam to dam. Reducing agricultural use will help if that use is upstream but is unlikely to happen under this administration. 

USBR had warned that, without major intervention, Lake Powell could fall below that 3,490-foot level by August 2026, forcing releases through the dam’s river outlet works and creating “operational issues,” downstream impacts and instability in regional power and water supplies.



Any long-term solution may likely have to confront where the water goes. A 2024 study published in Communications Earth & Environment, led by Brian Richter and titled New water accounting reveals why the Colorado River no longer reaches the sea, found that irrigated agriculture accounts for 74 percent of direct human uses of Colorado River water and 52 percent of overall consumption.

The same research found that alfalfa and other cattle-feed crops consume 46 percent of all direct water consumption, and that agriculture consumed three times more Colorado River water than all other direct human uses combined.

Jay Famiglietti, a global futures professor at Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability told Newsweek the Colorado River Basin can no longer sustain the agricultural productivity of past decades and that, together with climate change, that productivity has depleted the basin's water resources. He said shifting away from water-intensive crops such as alfalfa and nut orchards, and significantly reducing the basin's agricultural footprint, will be key for long-term water security.

https://www.newsweek.com/lake-powell-nears-dead-power-pool-what-it-means-for-millions-of-americans-12192465

Lake Powell Nears ‘Dead Power Pool’—What It Means for Millions of Americans

Cadillac Desert came out right around when I was a senior in High School. We spent a lot of time venturing around the Southwest, and I spent a lot of time in the 90s at Lake Powell and Lake Mead. It's an unfortunate reminder that even though we can see the problem, and we know the answer, it's likely we are still doomed. We are all scorpions.

Trump’s rollback of toxic gas rules limits EPA’s authority to protect public health, analysis says
A new Trump administration plan to rescind 2024 regulations for toxic ethylene oxide (EtO) pollution more broadly aims to limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to strengthen public health protections around hazardous emissions and could result in more of the toxin being released into the air.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a plastic trash nightmare. It could also be part of a much bigger, hidden problem

Zeldin tells climate skeptics to ‘celebrate vindication’ after repeal of baseline climate rule

 Red_Dragon wrote:

My previous company did data centers, but on a pretty small (relatively) scale. Our big site was 20 Megawatts - the size of a modest city ~20K households. We did a lot of stuff to be environmentally conscious. We did it because I wanted to, but also because it made a lot of sense financially and was easy to sell to the board of directors.  When your power bills are 200K$ a month, a 10% savings starts to look pretty good.  Part of our systems used evaporative cooling with a water tower and part was just airside cooling. We could adaptively change our profile to keep the temp and humidity perfect on our data floor. A big part of that was selective heat rejection. There was a section at the back of our building that got all that waste air. It wasn't good enough to pipe back into the HVAC system (sensible heat needs to be pretty high to be useful), so it was just dumped. That area was always ~ 20+ degrees warmer than the outside temp. When it snowed, it never stuck back there. Even when it rained, it would dry quickly there (relative humidity drops rapidly when you warm the air because it expands - so it sucks up any water around).
 

Scientists have found an alarming environmental impact of vast data centers

 The EPA is trying to roll back protections against ethylene oxide, a chemical that causes leukemia and breast cancer, in communities that are already overburdened with pollution.

The public comment period is open right now. It’s easy to post your thoughts; I just did.

You don’t have to write an essay. You just have to show up. Tell them you oppose weakening these standards, you know what this chemical does to people, and that you’re watching. They are legally required to read these. Comments like this have changed outcomes before. 

Here’s where to start.

There are also guidelines about what to include so that your comment is heard as intended.

Potentially toxic ‘forever chemicals’ may harm kids during critical period for bone development

This is fine.

Dozens of scientists find errors in a new Energy Department climate report

 KurtfromLaQuinta wrote:

Not as long as you are nice to the burros.

 islander wrote: Hey.
I'd stand under your tree.
I love trees.

Then again... you'd probably shoo me away. 

 rgio wrote:

One of the many reasons I like it here is that we are on the edge of one of the dark sky regions. Our little town is suffering a lot of development and that is starting to have some impact. Our neighbors have mostly been good, but there is a lot more lights than there used to be.   Still, night time on the rooftop deck is amazing. Especially on new/ sliver moons that set early like right now.  Everyone is building walls to (which does contain a lot of their light), which feels bizarre to me - if you feel you need that for security, why would you want to be here. We have very modest fencing that has a lot of openings. We get horses and donkeys and all kinds of other stuff wandering through our yard. It's magical. We have a big mesquite tree that makes a lot of shade. I often find a pony standing under it.