Air pollution from Canada’s tar sands is much worse than we thought

Enlarge / Aerial view of the Athabasca oil sands near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.Bloomberg Creative via Getty

Canada’s tar sands have gained infamy for being one of the world’s most polluting sources of oil, thanks to the large amounts of energy and water use required for their extraction. A new study says the operations are also emitting far higher levels of a range of air pollutants than previously known, with implications for communities living nearby and far downwind.

The research, published Thursday in Science, took direct measurements of organic carbon emissions from aircraft flying above the tar sands, also called oil

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