Category: PATA_West_Wildfires_2022_Related Science_Land_MN Wildfires_MN

Unprecedented wildfires raged across Russia in 2021, burning vast swaths of forest, sending smoke as far as the North Pole and unleashing astounding amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere…

Wildfires and global commodities industries wiped out 11 million hectares of forest cover in 2021 — approximately the area of the state of Tennessee or the nation of Denmark, according to a study published on Thursday by Global Forest Watch.

It says that human activities have already altered 70% of the Earth’s land surface, degrading up to 40% of it. Four of the nine “planetary boundaries” – limits on how humans can safely use Earth’s resources – have already been exceeded.

Tree planting is often dismissed as a “nice to have” but ultimately insignificant part of environmentalism. Like littering, many people think of it as the kind of minor environmental issue that doesn’t deserve the same attention as big topics like climate change. But forests act as carbon sinks; trees are among our strongest assets in reversing climate change.

Project will preserve 10,000 acres of Western Washington’s most ecologically valuable forests; generate millions of dollars in revenue for schools and counties throughout the state…

The world’s forests play a far greater and more complex role in tackling climate crisis than previously thought, due to their physical effects on global and local temperatures, according to new research…

An international group of researchers warns that by 2050, 1.4 million street trees will die because of the infestations, wiping out beloved species such as the ash.

A coalition of more than 70 environmental groups launched a joint campaign on Tuesday calling on President Biden to protect old-growth trees on federal lands from logging as a means of fighting climate change. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas that causes global warming, and older trees store more carbon than new ones because they are larger.

Ingka Group, the owner of most IKEA furniture stores worldwide, has bought more land in the United States as part of a long-term commitment to responsible forest management, it said on Thursday.

Many of the world’s biggest banks, financial institutions and companies are not doing enough to stop deforestation, and in many cases are continuing to bankroll forest destruction, undermining efforts to stop a major driver of global carbon emissions, a new report has found.