After a month of fires that gave off record-breaking amounts of polluting gas, smoke from Siberian wildfires is now making its way to the west coast of the United States.

The New York Times’ Somini Sengupta reports that Arctic wildfires in June 2020 caused more pollution than the data (数据) that had been collected in the previous 18 years. Seasonal wildfires are common in Siberia, but this year’s fires are unusually widespread in part because of a climate change-driven heatwave. The Arctic is experiencing climate change-driven warming faster than the rest of the earth, which sets up the dry conditions that make fires spread.

“I was surprised to see a fire burning 10 kilometers south of a bay of the Laptev Sea, which is like, the sea ice factory of the world,” said fire researcher Jessica McCarty from Miami University in Ohio. “When I went into fire science as an undergraduate student, if someone had told me I’d be studying fire regimes (管强体制) in Greenland and the Arctic, I would have laughed at them.”

This June’s Arctic fires beat the pollution record set in 2019, said Mark Parrington, who works with the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service tracking worldwide wildfires. Some of the fires may have spent the winter months smoldering (闷燃) only to grow again in warmer weather. And the weather has certainly gotten warmer. In June, a Russian town above the Arctic circle called Verkhoyansk hit a high temperature of 100,4 degrees Fahrenheit.

The current situation in the Arctic circle shows that previous predictions (预测) “underestimate what is going on in reality,” earth scientist Vladmir Romanovsky sold. He added that temperature observation in the High Arctic made in the last 15 years weren’t expected for another seventy years.

Millions of acres of land are on fire this wildfire season. Most of the wildfires are located in Siberia’s Sakha Republic, which sees wildfires frequently, but fires are also spreading further north and into unusual ecosystems, like those that are characterized by permafrost (永冻土).

French baby-milk maker Lactalis and health authorities have ordered a major international recall ( 召回) of several food products for babies. The Lactalis Group is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of dairy products. It said French health officials warned the company that 26 babies had been sickened with salmonella (沙门氏菌) since December 1,2017.

The French Ministry of the Economy ordered the suspension of marketing and export of several baby products made at a Lactalis factory in Craon, France. It said all the products were manufactured after February 15, 2017, the French health ministry’s website says the recall affects nine countries in four continents: Britain and Greece in Europe; Morocco and Sudan in Africa; Peru and Colombia in South America; and Pakistan, Bangladesh and China in Asia. The United States, a major market for Lactalis products, is not affected.

A company spokesman told the Associated Press Monday that the recall is “precautionary (预防的)” and involves “several million” products. Lactalis noted in a statement that the 26 cases of infection were linked to products with the brand names Picot SL, Pepti Junior 1 , Milumel Bio 1 and Picot Riz. The statement included an apology and provided financial support to the families whose children were sickened. The company said it had taken measures to clean the area of the factory where the bacteria spread.

Infection with salmonella can cause sickness. Signs of infection include abdominal ( 腹 部 ) pain , diarrhea ( 腹泻) and higher-than-normal body temperature. The sickness is more dangerous among some populations, including the very young.

The Lactalis Group is a privately-held company. Its headquarters is in western France. Lactalis has 75, 000 employees in 85 countries and earnings of about 17 billion euros a year. Its famous brands include President and Galbani cheeses, as well as Parmalat milk.

About 230 whales beached themselves on the western part of the Australian island of Tasmania. It is the second such incident in recent days. At least half are alive and animal officials are working to rescue them. They are trying to understand why the whales got stuck.

The whales are stuck on Ocean Beach near Macquarie Harbor in the western part of Tasmania. About two years ago, 470 whales became stuck on sand in the same area. That time, about 100 whales were saved but the rest died.

The whales are pilot whales, which weigh between 1,000 and 2,000 kilograms and measure over 6 meters. Pilot whales are the species that most often get stuck in large numbers. Some scientists believe it is because they travel in large groups and follow a leader.

A team from the Marine Conservation Program was heading to the area to help the whales. The harbor does not have deep water and its entrance is known by locals as Hell’s Gate.

Linton Kringle is a salmon farmer who once helped with the rescue in 2020. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation this year’s work would be more difficult. That time, he said that the whales were in the harbor, so people could reach them easily on boats. This time, they are outside of the safe area, on a beach, which means it will be harder to get boats near them. “It’s too shallow (浅的) and too rough. My thoughts would be to try to get them onto a vehicle if we can’t get them swim out,” Kringle added.

Vanessa Pirotta is a wildlife scientist who studies animals like whales and dolphins. She said the fact that the whales have gotten stuck around the same place during the same part of the year, suggesting there might be something environmental here.