Multiple droughts can be a mixed bag for forests
When multiple droughts build on each other, they affect forests differently than one drought alone. Researchers are beginning to understand how and why.
Oct. 14, 2020 • ~6 min
Tags: trees forests earth-and-environment droughts
Restoring California's forests to reduce wildfire risks will take time, billions of dollars and a broad commitment
Restoring western forests – thinning out small trees and dead wood – is an important strategy for reducing the risk of massive wildfires. But these projects aren't fast, easy or cheap.
Oct. 13, 2020 • ~10 min
Tags: climate-change water california-wildfires forests ecosystem-services wildfires us-west us-forest-service sierra-nevada watersheds forest-restoration
What are the health care costs of wildfire smoke?
New research estimates the yearly costs in health care due to wildfire smoke in California. The costs are staggering and rising.
Oct. 8, 2020 • ~8 min
Tags: pollution health-care-costs wildfire forests money smoke featured health-and-medicine
A proposed mine threatens Minnesota's Boundary Waters, the most popular wilderness in the US
Conservation or copper? A proposed mine in northern Minnesota pits industrial jobs against a thriving outdoor economy.
Oct. 5, 2020 • ~10 min
Tags: conservation forests water-pollution fishing donald-trump-administration mining rivers minerals outdoors lakes copper wilderness us-forest-service minnesota sonny-perdue camping
Evolution on the smallest of scales smooths out the patchwork patterns of where plants and animals live
Local adaptation allows plants and animals to thrive in a diversity of places. Sometimes adaptation sharpens patterns of where organisms live, but 85% of the time, it creates a more homogeneous world.
Oct. 2, 2020 • ~10 min
Tags: evolution environment ecology trees forests charles-darwin adaptation
The Arctic hasn't been this warm for 3 million years – and that foreshadows big changes for the rest of the planet
Extreme shrinkage of summer sea ice is just the latest evidence of rapid Arctic warming – and what happens in the Arctic doesn't stay there.
Sept. 30, 2020 • ~9 min
Tags: climate-change greenland arctic paleoclimate russia carbon-dioxide-co2 siberia arctic-warming sea-ice norway pliocene boreal-forest
Are the Oregon wildfires a view into the future?
"Until a few days ago it was looking like the tamer wildfire projections were closest to reality."
Sept. 18, 2020 • ~7 min
Tags: climate-change wildfire forests featured science-and-technology
Climate change and forest management have both fueled today's epic Western wildfires
Debating whether climate change or forest management has caused the devastating wildfires in California, Washington and Oregon is a false choice.
Sept. 16, 2020 • ~10 min
Tags: climate-change donald-trump wildfire forests california us-history wildfire-fighting oregon logging forest-management washington-state us-west endangered-species-act timber-industry us-forest-service
Chimpanzees in volatile habitats evolved to behave more flexibly – it could help them weather climate change
As in humans, environmental changes provoked chimpanzees to develop a diverse range of behaviours.
Sept. 15, 2020 • ~7 min
Tags: evolution climate-change human-evolution forests grasslands savanna behaviour
In the Amazon, forest degradation is outpacing full deforestation
Forest that has been disturbed – but not cleared – by logging or fire can be hard to spot from satellites.
Sept. 10, 2020 • ~6 min
Tags: climate-change brazil deforestation amazon-forest forest-degradation
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