Fire ravaged Canada in 2023 like no other year, by a stupendous margin. A record 45.7m acres (18.5m hectares) went up in flames, an area about twice the size…Continue readingAfter a record year of wildfires, will Canada ever be the same again?
Tag: carbon sink
UK forests are heading for “catastrophic ecosystem collapse” within the next 50 years due to multiple threats including disease, extreme weather and wildfires, researchers have warned, with trees dying…Continue readingUK forests face catastrophic ecosystem collapse within 50 years
October, November and December are usually a period of transition. By now, the dry season would normally have peaked, and rivers and aquifers would start to replenish. But the…Continue reading‘Everything is parched’: Amazon struggles with drought amid deforestation
Global destruction of forests increased by 4% last year, compared to 2021, according to a new report. A total of 6.6 million hectares of forests were lost in 2022—an…Continue readingDestruction of forests gathered pace in 2022, despite global promises
US carmaker Ford, Brazil’s Vale, China’s Tsingshan and Hong Kong’s Jardine Matheson are invested in Indonesian nickel projects responsible for the clearance of large swaths of some of the…Continue readingNickel miners linked to devastation of Indonesian forests
Bill Gates is emphatic: “I don’t plant trees,” he declared recently, wading into a debate about whether mass tree planting is really much use in fighting climate change. The…Continue readingIs planting trees to combat climate change ‘complete nonsense’?
When scientists started pouring over data to assess Canada’s fire season this year, they struggled to find the right superlatives. “Never before seen,” was thrown around, as was “exceptional…Continue readingCanada left battered by ‘never before seen’ wildfire season
The vast swaths of pine, spruce and larch forest that blanket much of Canada have been prized for generations. Not only do they provide a home to hundreds of…Continue readingWildfires turn Canada’s vast forests from carbon sink into super-emitter
Meeting the climate goals means we should not only significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also sequester more CO2 in the soil. Research has taught us how to store…Continue readingExperts question whether carbon dioxide storage in farming soils helps the climate
A prominent sheikh in the oil-rich Gulf state hosting this year’s UN climate negotiations, COP28, is heading a new rush to capture and sell carbon credits by managing tens…Continue readingIn New Scramble for Africa, an Arab Sheikh Is Taking the Lead
Conservation groups have accused a New South Wales agency of logging one of the last known strongholds of the greater glider, an endangered marsupial species, and urged the state…Continue readingHome of endangered marsupial hit by state-sanctioned logging in New South Wales
The “crazy” extreme weather rampaging around the globe in 2023 will become the norm within a decade without dramatic climate action, the world’s leading climate scientists have said. The…Continue readingDramatic climate action needed to curtail ‘crazy’ extreme weather
Global warming is driving leafy tropical canopies close to temperatures where they can no longer transform sunlight and CO2 into energy, threatening total collapse. A tiny percentage of upper…Continue readingTropical forests nearing critical temperatures thresholds
Many credits in the voluntary market going unused, with study finding some offsetting could make global heating worse Carbon credit speculators could lose billions as scientific evidence shows many…Continue readingCarbon credit speculators could lose billions as offsets deemed ‘worthless’
Wallacea is a fascinating region of both land and sea. Spanning approximately 338,000 square kilometers within Indonesia, it is home to a rich diversity of animals and plants, with…Continue readingWallacea: A living laboratory of Earth’s evolution. Its wildlife, forests and reefs will be devastated if we don’t act
Britain’s rivers are under the spotlight because of an untreated sewage crisis, and the pendulum of floods and droughts that are the hallmark of a warming world. But hidden…Continue readingOpinion: We have forgotten what a ‘natural’ river even looks like
Rob Blakers says he was ‘surprised then furious’ that trees in foraging and feeding habitat for birds, whose numbers are down to just 750, were being destroyed.Continue readingWildlife photographer arrested in Tasmanian forest where swift parrot habitat is being logged
Under current land-use regulation, carbon dioxide emissions from biofuel production exceed those from fossil diesel combustion. Therefore, international agreements need to ensure the effective and globally comprehensive protection of…Continue readingState of global land regulation inadequate to control biofuel land-use-change emissions
Earth lost an area of carbon-absorbing rainforest larger than Switzerland or the Netherlands in 2022, most of it destroyed to make way for cattle and commodity crops. That is…Continue readingFootball pitch of tropical forest lost every 5 seconds
The slow-down of the Southern Ocean circulation, a dramatic drop in the extent of sea ice and unprecedented heatwaves are all raising concerns that Antarctica may be approaching tipping…Continue readingAntarctic tipping points: The irreversible changes to come if we fail to keep warming below 2˚C
The Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer by the 2030s, even if we do a good job of reducing emissions between now and then. That’s the worrying conclusion…Continue readingArctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer by 2030s, with global, damaging and dangerous consequences
It is now too late to save summer Arctic sea ice. The study also shows that if emissions decline slowly or continue to rise, the first ice-free summer could…Continue readingToo late now to save Arctic summer ice, climate scientists find
“CO2 now is higher than any time in the last 4 to 4.5 million years when the atmosphere was about 7 degrees Fahrenheit (3.9 degrees Celsius) warmer and sea…Continue readingAmount of warming triggering carbon dioxide in air hits new peak, growing at near-record fast rate
Approximately 10,000 people have been ordered to leave a coastal city in the Canadian province of Quebec, marking the latest evacuation amid weeks of wildfires across the country. Bill…Continue readingCanada wildfires spread to new areas, prompting more evacuations
More than 800m trees have been cut down in the Amazon rainforest in just six years to feed the world’s appetite for Brazilian beef, according to a new investigation,…Continue readingMore than 800m Amazon trees felled in six years to meet beef demand
Worryingly, the rate of mountain forest loss seems to be accelerating: the annual rate of loss increased by 50% from 2001–2009 to 2010–2018, when we lost approximately 5.2 million…Continue readingMountain forests are being lost at an accelerating rate, putting biodiversity at risk, warns study
One blaze can’t restore species composition to its historical norm in a forest that evolved amid frequent, low-severity fires, the scientists found. “Landscapes have likely passed thresholds that preclude…Continue readingTo help dry-forests, fire needs to be just the right intensity, and happen more than once
The new study showed a significant increase in emissions from boreal fires over the past two decades. Things were particularly dramatic in 2021, when they comprised a record 23%…Continue readingExtreme wildfires are turning the world’s largest forest ecosystem from carbon sink into net-emitter
Researchers found that unlogged forested areas are generally carbon neutral, but that moderately and heavily logged tropical forest areas are a carbon source. They estimate an average carbon source…Continue readingForests recovering from logging act as a source of carbon
Scientists behind car number plate study say ‘potentially catastrophic’ decline must be reversed.Continue readingFlying insect numbers plunge 64% since 2004, UK survey finds
Conservation groups warn not enough is being done to protect ecosystems as state government data shows more than 400,000ha of land was cleared in 2019-20.Continue readingCalls for tougher regulations as Queensland, Australia records highest rate of land clearing in country
Claim by academics, including former integrity chair of Australia’s carbon credit scheme, raises further doubts about system. ‘The wild west approach needs to end,’ says climate scientist Bill Hare,…Continue readingAustralia’s carbon offset scheme fraudulent
Almost one fourth of Sweden’s last unprotected old-growth forest was logged between 2003 and 2019. At this rate, all of these ecologically unique and valuable forests will be lost…Continue readingStudy uncovers widespread and ongoing clearcutting of Swedish old forests
The analysis, by the Global Carbon Project, calculates Earth’s “carbon budget“, which is how much CO₂ humans have released, and how much has been removed from the atmosphere by…Continue readingGlobal carbon emissions at record levels with no signs of shrinking
There’s some hocus-pocus going on with the emissions reduction numbers the European Union is proudly touting at the COP27 climate summit, climate campaigners allege. The EU says it’s one…Continue readingEU accused of climate accounting tricks
Everybody likes trees. There is no anti-tree lobby. A global push to go beyond conservation of existing forests and start creating new ones goes back to 2011, when many…Continue readingPhantom Forests: Why Ambitious Tree Planting Projects Are Failing
Despite decades of social and environmental campaigns aimed at protecting the Amazon, the threats now are greater than they have ever been, thanks to the relentless expansion of activities…Continue readingLast stand in the Amazon
Colombia lost more than 174,000 hectares of woodland in 2021 — an area 30 times the size of Manhattan — with illegal clearances fuelling the surge. It was the…Continue readingColombia’s battle against Amazon deforestation: ‘The jungle is disappearing’
The waters of the EU are in a “dismal” state, with only a third of fish populations studied in the north-east Atlantic considered to be in good condition, according…Continue readingEU slammed over failure to protect marine life from ‘destructive’ fishing
Out of 26 countries, Indonesia accounted for 58.2% of the tropical deforestation directly caused by industrial mining activities. The data covered 26 countries representing 76.7% of the total tropical…Continue readingIndustrial mining in Indonesia accounts for 45% of global tropical deforestation
Smoke from hundreds of wildfires has darkened skies over the Alaskan interior this summer with the state experiencing its fastest start to the fire season on record amid hot…Continue reading‘Nothing left to burn’: Wildfires blaze through the Arctic
The number of forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon hit a nearly 15-year high this week, according to official figures that provided the latest warning on the advancing destruction…Continue readingBrazil records worst day for Amazon fires in 15 years
Forest fires supercharged by climate change are burning twice as much global tree cover as 20 years ago. The equivalent of 16 football pitches are now lost every minute.…Continue readingClimate change driving unprecedented forest fire loss
Forests from the Arctic to the Amazon are transforming at a “shocking” rate due to the climate crisis, with trees advancing into previously barren tundra in the north while…Continue readingGlobal heating has caused ‘shocking’ changes in forests across the Americas
A team of researchers have found that the global forest area has declined by 81.7 million hectares from 1960 to 2019, equivalent to an area of more than 10%…Continue readingNew study finds global forest area has declined by 81 million hectares from 1960 to 2019
No organism on Earth is known to live as long as the Great Basin bristlecone pine. The oldest documented tree, a well-hidden specimen nicknamed “Methuselah,” after the long-lived biblical…Continue readingScientists rush to save 1,000-year-old trees on the brink of death
Deforestation of the Amazon hit a new record during the first half of 2022. Satellite data showed more than 3,980 square kilometers, an area five times the size of…Continue readingAmazon deforestation hits six-year high in Brazil
Restoring degraded environments, such as by planting trees, is often touted as a solution to the climate crisis. But our new research shows this, while important, is no substitute…Continue readingNature restoration no substitute for cutting fossil fuels
Scientists estimate that Australia’s east coast estuaries are warming four times faster than anywhere else in the world. Prof Maria Byrne from the Sydney Institute of Marine Science says…Continue readingExperts warn the NSW South Coast marine environment is undergoing a ‘dynamic state of change’
Land clearing in New South Wales (NSW), Australia continues to exceed the long-term average. 51,400 hectares (127,012 acres) of woody vegetation was cleared across the state in 2020, a…Continue readingEmissions warning: calls to stop ‘skyrocketing’ land clearing in NSW
Australia’s tropical rainforest trees have being dying at double the previous rate since the 1980s, seemingly because of global heating, according to new research that raises concerns tropical forests…Continue readingAustralia’s tropical rainforests have been dying faster for decades in ‘clear and stark climate warning’
Since 2000, more than 71 million hectares of dry forest have been destroyed, an area about twice the size of Germany. Many hotspots of deforestation are concentrated in South…Continue readingTropical dry forests disappearing rapidly around the globe
Satellite images show a total area of destroyed forest cover of 1,012.5 square kilometres (391 square miles) from April 1 to 29, with the last day of the month…Continue readingBrazil deforestation shatters April record
Pristine rainforests were once again destroyed at a relentless rate in 2021, according to new figures, prompting concerns governments will not meet a COP26 deal to halt and reverse…Continue reading‘Relentless’ destruction of rainforest continuing despite Cop26 pledge
The Amazon is approaching a tipping point, data shows, after which the rainforest would be lost with “profound” implications for the global climate and biodiversity. Novel statistical analysis shows…Continue readingAmazon rainforest tipping point is looming
Deforestation last year rose to the highest level since 2015 in Brazil’s Cerrado, prompting scientists on Monday to raise alarm over the state of the world’s most species-rich savanna…Continue readingBrazil: deforestation jumps in world’s largest savanna as scientists raise alarm
Queensland landholders are clearing the equivalent of about 1,000 Melbourne Cricket Grounds a day, including endangered ecological regions, according to state government data that raises new doubts about the…Continue reading‘Carbon bomb’: Queensland, Australia, reveals big jump in land clearing
The drought and heatwaves that seared eastern Australia in the lead-up to the 2019-20 black summer bushfires killed as much as 60% of the trees in some areas that…Continue readingDrought and heatwaves in Australia cause widespread tree death