Heavy smoke from several large wildfires blazing in Canada and Minnesota is expected to engulf large swaths of the Midwest and Northeast U.S. this week, exposing millions of people to dangerous air pollution. Minnesota officials issued an air quality alert from Tuesday through Friday for areas including the Twin Cities metro area, Alexandria and Two Harbors, with very heavy smoke expected across the state’s northeastern corner as large wildfires spread. Air quality levels in Two Harbors, the Tribal Nation of Grand Portage and other regions in northeast Minnesota were expected to reach hazardous levels, making it unsafe for everyone. Dan Westervelt, associate professor at Columbia University’s Climate School, said severe drought conditions combined with heat in Canada and the U.S. have created “a perfect storm for really dry conditions to provide a lot of fuel for these wildfires to burn.” Research shows warming temperatures from burning coal, oil and gas are making fires more frequent and intense. People should stay indoors as much as possible to avoid the extreme heat, especially as smoke moves in, said Tyler Hasenstein, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen, Minnesota. “Those two things coinciding with each other is not good from a health perspective,” he said. Officials in Michigan and Wisconsin warned residents Tuesday about air quality issues that could last for days. High levels of fine particulate matter in the air from wildfire smoke may be unhealthy for sensitive groups, such as children and people with heart or lung conditions. In parts of Maine, residents were reporting a…This article was originally published on Mongabay

President Donald Trump is sharply reducing the size of two national monuments in Utah. The move to shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by about 90% unravels protections established by former presidents for areas with unique archaeological and historical features. It comes as Republicans under Trump have sought to drastically reshape the management of vast taxpayer-owned lands concentrated in Western states. Republicans have moved to expand oil and gas drilling, ramp up logging and remove habitat protections for imperiled species. The altered monuments had been designated under the Antiquities Act, a 1906 law meant to preserve important sites. Democrats and conservationists warn of the disposal of treasured landscapes for commercial gain. By Matthew Brown and Savannah Peters, Associated Press   Banner image: A hiker watches a waterfall at Lower Calf Creek Falls at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, July 12, 2023, in Escalante, Utah. Image by Ross D. Franklin via Associated Press. This article was originally published on Mongabay

Happy World Chimpanzee Day. On July 14, as the world celebrates one of humans’ closest living relatives, here’s a roundup of recent Mongabay stories about chimpanzees and their world: Chimps at war in Kibale National Park Chimpanzees, like humans, sometimes fight wars with each other.  Mongabay contributor Keith Anthony Fabro reported on a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) “civil war” in Uganda’s Kibale National Park where a chimpanzee community split into rival factions and attacked former allies.  Before the split, the Ngogo community was unusually large, with 150 to 200 individuals making it one of the largest chimp groups ever recorded in the wild. The community then divided into two factions, which researchers call the Central and Western groups — named after the areas of forest they occupied. Between 2018 and 2024, the Western group carried out 24 attacks on the Central group, killing at least seven adult males and 17 infants. The conflict is still unfolding and may have lasting consequences for the population. The findings of a study show how shifting social ties can fracture animal societies and trigger collective violence. What do chimpanzees and Ringo Starr have in common? Drumming and singing at the same time is impressive, whether you’re Karen Carpenter, Ringo Starr or a chimpanzee. Mongabay’s Liz Kimbrough reported on Ayumu, a 26-year-old male chimpanzee at Kyoto University’s Institute for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior (EHUB). Ayumu has been spontaneously tearing floorboards from a walkway, fashioning them into instruments and performing extended drumming displays while also vocalizing.…This article was originally published on Mongabay