You may envision gas masks as bulky, eerie relics from the past, confined to the scenes of spy thrillers or the quiet halls of World War I museums. But the truth is, you likely already possess a mask leveraging the same incredible technology. And in the not-so-distant future, these filtering devices might become an integral part of our daily lives, safeguarding us against both emerging diseases and the increasing threat of wildfires.
Russia's State Forest agency is battling an unprecedented number of wildfires this summer, with 222 separate blazes raging across 20 regions. But why is this summer so different? And what does it tell us about the changing face of the Arctic tundra and Russia's boreal forest ecosystems?