Forests

By James Weber, University of Reading; and James A. King, University of Sheffield | – (The Conversation) – Tackling climate change by planting trees has an intuitive appeal. They absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere without using expensive technology. The suggestion that you can plant trees to offset your carbon emissions is […]

Ecology

How Trees and Forests Heal us and make for Well-Being,

H. Patricia Hynes

Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Korean scientists have confirmed that walking through forest areas improved older women’s blood pressure, lung capacity and elasticity in their arteries. Walking in an urban park with trees, or an arboretum, or a rural forest reduces blood pressure, improves cardiac-pulmonary parameters, bolsters mental health, reduces negative thoughts, […]

Climate Crisis

Old Forests are Essential for Slowing Climate Change: Prohibit Logging Them!

The Conversation

By Beverly Law, Oregon State University and William Moomaw, Tufts University | – (The Conversation) – Forests are an essential part of Earth’s operating system. They reduce the buildup of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and land degradation by 30% each year. This slows global temperature increases and the […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Crisis: North America’s Summer of wildfire Smoke — 2023 was only the Beginning

The Conversation

By Charles O. Stanier, University of Iowa; Gregory Carmichael, University of Iowa; and Peter S. Thorne, University of Iowa | – Canada’s seemingly endless wildfires in 2023 introduced millions of people across North America to the health hazards of wildfire smoke. While Western states have contended with smoky fire seasons for years, the air quality […]

Agriculture

The Real Risk that “Worthless” Forest Carbon Offsets will exacerbate Climate Change

The Conversation

By Julia P G Jones, Bangor University; and Neal Hockley, Bangor University | – In early 2023, the Guardian published an article suggesting that more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets are worthless. These credits are essentially a promise to protect forests and can be bought as a way to “offset” emissions elsewhere. Verra, the […]

Climate Crisis

We don’t Need to let Fossil Fuels and Forest Fires Choke Us — Green Energy is Here and its Price is Plummeting

Wisconsin Examiner

Dr. Joel Charles ( Wisconsin Examiner ) – Every day last week I woke up dismayed to see the haze from the Canadian wildfire smoke. I am dismayed because as a rural family doctor I know how damaging this smoke is to my community. I am dismayed not just at the harm this summer’s smoke […]

Batteries

On this 4th of July we need to Declare a War of Independence from Fossil Fuels and Climate Change

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, kicked off the Revolutionary War in earnest, which the Continental Army only finally won seven years later, in 1882. The Revolutionary War was a rare conflict for the United States, in that it was fought on our own soil, such that every […]

Climate Change

Human Exposure to Wildfires has more than doubled in two Decades

The Conversation

By Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University | – Over the past two decades, a staggering 21.8 million Americans found themselves living within 3 miles (5 kilometers) of a large wildfire. Most of those residents would have had to evacuate, and many would have been exposed to smoke and emotional trauma from the fire. Nearly 600,000 […]

Climate Crisis

Global Heating and its Wildfires are Reshaping Canada’s Northern Forests and its Tundra

The Conversation

By Konrad Gajewski, University of Ottawa/ L’Université d’Ottawa | – (The Conversation) – Global warming is affecting the boreal forest — what happens will depend on the climate, vegetation and the frequency and intensity of wildfires. Changes in the north include increases or decreases in leaf growth, called Arctic greening and browning, more extensive growth […]