Axios

Portland and Seattle currently have the worst air quality in the world, thanks to wildfires raging along the length of the West Coast. Residents have been advised to stay indoors, particularly those with medical conditions.

The big picture: Wildfires are raging near population centers at the same time as they threaten cherished state landmarks.

Six of the 20 largest wildfires in modern California history have been this year, the N.Y. Times reports (subscription) in "A Climate Reckoning in Fire-Stricken California."

What they're saying: "It's really shocking to see the number of fast-moving, extremely large and destructive fires simultaneously burning," Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, told The Times.

Wildfires in Oregon have caused more than 500,000 people — over 10% of the state’s 4.2 million population — to evacuate and the blazes have burned over 1,400 square miles across the state this week, state authorities said Thursday per AP.

What they're saying: Gov. Kate Brown said there are known fatalities as a result of the fires, but the exact number of lives lost remains unknown. So far, at least three deaths in the state have been reported in association with the fires.

Go deeper: August Complex is now the largest wildfire in California recorded history

Severe wildfires across the American West may already be altering the future of forests there.

The big picture: Fires are catalyzing changes in forests already under pressure from climate change. Scientists are trying to determine how forests are responding and whether they can be rebuilt to withstand future fires and combat climate change.

Despite concerns over antimicrobial resistance flourishing during the pandemic as doctors use all their tools to help patients fight COVID-19, early indications are that their efforts may not be causing a large increase, a CDC official tells Axios.

Why it matters: AMR is a growing problem, as the misuse or overuse of antibiotics creates resistant pathogens that cause more than 2.8 million infections and 35,000 deaths annually in the U.S.

NASA is asking private companies to help the space agency collect dirt and rocks from the Moon, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine announced today.

Why it matters: The solicitation is part of NASA's push to commercialize space and make the agency a buyer of services in space instead of a sole provider.

A 1-year-old boy is among at least seven people to have died in wildfires burning hundreds of thousands of acres in the Northwest U.S. this week, officials in Okanogan County, Washington, confirmed Wednesday.

Driving the news: Powerful winds are fueling scores of fires as thousands of people remain under evacuation orders in California, Washington state and Oregon.

Wildlife populations have plummeted 68% in less than half a century and the "catastrophic" decline shows no sign of slowing down, a major conservation report published Wednesday warns.

Driving the news: The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) "Living Planet Report 2020" that monitored 4,392 species of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians from 1970 to 2016 points to one underlying cause for the populations decline and deterioration of nature: humanity.