Wildfire Smoke, Ozone, and the Push to Politicize Climate Research

Wildfire smoke doesn’t just make sunsets look dramatic. New climate and air-quality research is pointing out something more worrying: the smoke can help drive unhealthy ozone levels even thousands of miles away—while the political machinery that funds climate research is getting, well, a lot less neutral.

This is the crossroads: the atmosphere doesn’t care what party is in power, but the science system that explains it often does.

The Announcement

A proposal reported by BMJ would require...