
Brown carbon, emitted by wildland fires and tracked over the span of a week in July 2026, worsened air quality in parts of the U.S. and Canada.

With the North American fire season underway, and a record number of acres already burned nationwide, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, and ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite’s three instruments are observing vegetation precursors to fires, along with plumes of smoke and their movement. This data will help scientists piece together clues that deepen their understanding of wildfires. […]