"In the rush to put out wildfires, hundreds of millions of litres of fire retardant are dropped on forests across North America. New research shows the effects they can have on water and ecosystems — especially when accidents happen"
"For decades, the dry season in the Amazon rainforest has been getting drier. A new study, published on Tuesday, found that about 75 percent of the decrease in rainfall is directly linked to deforestation."
"Dr Ed Pyne snips a leaf from the Druids Oak, an 800-year-old tree that has watched over this woodland in Buckinghamshire for centuries, enduring droughts, storms, heatwaves and more. "We know that this tree is a survivor," he says, taking a leaf sample for DNA testing."
"Two firefighters working on the Bear Gulch Fire [Wash.] were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents on Wednesday."
"From space, NASA collects data that’s crucial for public health. Potential cuts could threaten that work."
"The Trump administration on Wednesday took formal steps to rescind a decades-old rule that protects 58.5 million acres of wild areas in national forests, including 4.4 million acres in California."
"Donald Trump’s attacks on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) risk exposing the US to another Hurricane Katrina, staff at the agency have warned Congress in a withering critique that also takes aim at its current leadership."
"Healthy fungal networks help trees and plants grow, making them key to successful reforestation. The only problem? Almost nothing is known about this subterranean ecology"
"The Trump administration is also looking to revive mining in the popular wilderness area"
As expanded development on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula encroaches on prime wildlife habitat, big cats find it harder to avoid people, and many wind up dead. In this Inside Story Q&A, Liza Gross of Inside Climate News describes how she and photographer/editor Michael Kodas worked with a local cougar protection team to track a family of big cats to their den and through the area.
