Invasive Pine-Killing Wasps Are Even Worse Than They Sound
A new insect invader is spreading in eastern North America’s pine forests, and it’s causing trouble wherever its wings can carry it.
How a Single Fallen Tree Can Reshape a Rainforest
In 1996, a tree fell in the Bolivian Amazon, jamming up a river like a chicken bone lodged in a drain. 119,000 acres of forest died in the catastrophic flooding that ensued. Twenty years later, new research has concluded that this wasn’t a one-off event: So-called ‘logjams’ are constantly reshaping vast swaths of…
America's Ash Trees Are Being Wiped Out—Here's How You Can Help Them
America’s Ash trees are facing extinction. And the impact of their loss in our forests, cities, and backyards will not be small.
This Could Be the Biggest Threat To Our Climate If We Don't Act Fast
When you think “peatland,” you probably picture water, or mosquitoes, or creepily preserved human artifacts. What most of us don’t consider are catastrophic wildfires—but that’s precisely what scientists are now worried about when it comes to one of the most carbon-rich ecosystems on Earth.
The Most Hopeful Place On Earth For Climate Change
Eastern Canada’s black spruce forests are one of the largest untamed wilderness areas on Earth. And in refreshingly optimistic news, parts of this ecosystem are expected to flourish in a warmer world, creating a refuge for species escaping drought-stricken regions to the south and west.
Trees Are Even More Amazing Than We Realized
Trees, is there anything they can’t do? Doubtful. Let’s see: producing half the world’s oxygen, providing habitat for millions of species, creating the soil and timber resources we depend on. Not bad. But all that’s just scratching the surface. As new research shows, there’s a lot more going on beneath the forest…
A Global Tragedy Is Unfolding In Tasmania
The blackened skeletons of scorched trees jut out of the smoldering Earth like angry bee stings. A smell of ash, dust, and death hangs in the air. This isn’t a scene from a post apocalyptic movie. It’s part of a Tasmanian World Heritage Site that harbors some of the oldest trees on Earth.
After Decades of Acid Rain Damage, Northeastern Forests Are Finally Making a Comeback
Good news on the environment front, folks: the effects of acid rain on forests in the northeastern US and eastern Canada are finally starting to reverse, nearly forty years after the United States began passing environmental legislation to control the problem.
We Could Have Discovered Climate Change As Early As the 1940s if We Had Just Looked
The signs of global warming are hitting us over the head today — if you’ll remember, the fire and drought-ridden summer of 2015 was the also hottest in recorded history — but how long has our planet actually been feeling the heat? In parts of the tropics, anthropogenic climate change has been tinkering with the…
Humans Have Eliminated Half the World's Trees
Human beings are having an overwhelming impact on Earth’s ecosystems, whether we’re pouring plastic into the ocean or filling the skies with carbon. But it’s not just modern society that’s to blame — our environmental legacy stretches way back into history. Since dawn of civilization, we’ve caused nearly half of the…
Why Does This Ice Look Exactly Like Hair
Fungi are some of the weirdest and most fascinating creatures on Earth, but they’ve really outdone themselves with this one: Hair ice. According to new research, the icy hair-sculptures that crop up overnight in forests before melting away in the sun have fungal fingerprints all over them.
