Axios

Plumes of smoke from wildfires scorching southeastern Canada's Nova Scotia province are drifting across the Northeastern U.S. and prompting air quality alerts in several cities through Wednesday.

The big picture: Fires have been burning in Canada for weeks, as much of the country experiences above-average temperatures and while it's not unusual for Canadian wildfire smoke to reach the U.S., it's normally Northwestern states that are affected.

Environmental regulators in Italy on Monday identified a chemical that turned part of Venice's famous Grand Canal bright green.

Why it matters: The regional environmental agency for the state of Veneto said an initial analysis of water samples revealed that the chemical behind the color was fluorescein.

China announced it aims to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030, highlighting another arena for competition with the U.S.

Driving the news: Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency, announced the plans at a press conference on Monday, adding that the goal of a crewed Moon landing would be to carry out scientific exploration and technological experiments, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.

The search for ripples in space and time sent out by extreme cosmic collisions is entering a new phase with more and faster detections.

Why it matters: These ripples — called gravitational waves — carry information about crashes between dense objects like black holes and neutron stars that scientists use to test long-held theories about the universe.

Satellite company BlackSky and analytics company SynMax are partnering to monitor the amount of coal stored at more than 100 power plants in the U.S.

Why it matters: If successful, keeping an eye on coal inventory at these plants could provide information to energy stakeholders that will help keep tabs on energy generation as the nation transitions away from coal power.

Changes to circulation in parts of the Southern Ocean are taking place faster than expected, with potentially profound implications for the global climate and marine life, a new study finds.

Why it matters: The Southern Ocean is home to the engine that powers the world's deep ocean currents, and regulates the climate. It governs the exchange of heat, carbon, oxygen and nutrients between ocean layers.

Fire evacuation orders are in effect across Canada as firefighters respond to dozens of wildfires in the country's east and west.

The big picture: Officials in the eastern Canadian city of Halifax said Monday evacuations had impacted some 18,000 people due to a wildfire that's burned some 200 properties in the Nova Scotia provincial capital, where a state of emergency was declared Sunday.