"As Brazil prepares to host the COP30 climate summit in the Amazon city of Belém in November, President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva is under pressure to veto a measure that could have a huge impact on the world's largest tropical rainforest."
"In a rugged patch of the Appalachian Trail in eastern Tennessee, volunteers size up a massive, gnarled tree lying on its side. Its tangled web of roots and dark brown soil, known as a root ball, is roughly the size of a large kiddie pool."
"Forests play a major role pulling planet-warming carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. As the world heats up, some forests are becoming emitters in their own right."
"A wildfire burning in a sparsely populated region of central Oregon has become the largest fire this year and is on the verge of surpassing 100,000 acres to become what’s officially known as a megafire."
"The U.S. Forest Service faced criticism from current and former employees who say federal workforce reductions under the Trump administration have left fire teams understaffed, as the country grapples with decade-high U.S. wildfire numbers this year."
For environmental journalists looking for data riches to help tell their stories — whether about urban heat islands, sea-surface temperatures or air pollution — NASA has the satellites whose sensors capture insights galore. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox offers an introduction to the U.S. space agency’s incredibly extensive data portal, and how to get started amid the wealth of information (caveat: before it’s gone).
"Two men who carried out a “moronic mission” to fell one of the most loved and photographed trees in the UK have been jailed."
"A growing body of research shows the cascading health impacts of wildfire smoke, from cognitive decline to heart issues."
"Much of the Upper Midwest on Saturday was dealing with swaths of unhealthy air because of drifting smoke from Canadian wildfires, covering the northern region of the U.S. at a time when people want to be enjoying lakes, trails and the great outdoors."
"America’s treeless, isolated expanse put early European settlers to the test. Drought, loneliness, and debt drove many to failure, forcing the homesteaders to retreat East. But those who stayed unwittingly launched one of history’s largest terraforming projects, rewiring the land, the climate, and the future of the continent."
