When I drove into Oregon a few days ago I noticed a thick white haze over Pendleton. A day or so later I heard on the NPR news that the widespread haze had blown here from extensive fires burning in Russia. Apparently it's ungodly hot there and the peat bogs are burning. Today I learn that people are getting worried that the burns in Russia are sending radioactive particulates into the air that has been stored in the biomass there since the Chernobyl accident 24 years ago. My goodness.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38648372/ns/world_news-the_new_york_times

Frankly, though, we Americans cannot point too many fingers at other nations who've made contaminating mistakes as long as we are actively engaging in toxic warfare for oil: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/toxic-legacy-of-us-assault-on-fallujah-worse-than-hiroshima-2034065.html