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London is a forest, and this map explores its trees

TreeTalk finds rare arboreal treasures among London's common foliage.

Image: TreeTalk
  • The world's largest urban forest, London counts nearly as many trees as it does people.
  • TreeTalk identifies about 700,000 of them, both common species and rarities.
  • Explore them yourself, or have the algorithm pick out a route from a starting point of your choice.
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World’s oldest forest found in New York state​

The 385-million-year-old fossils show that trees evolved modern features millions of years earlier than previously estimated.

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
  • The world's oldest forest fossils were located in an abandoned quarry near Cairo, New York.
  • Research of site specimens suggests that the forebearers to modern plants evolved much earlier than expected.
  • The findings help scientists better understand how trees advanced life's evolutionary trajectory to land during a critical period.
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biosphere botany climate change ecology environment nature plants trees

Is it possible to have too many trees?

Thinning forests in the Western United States can save billions of gallons of water per year and improve conservation efforts.

Photo credit: Ken Lund / Flickr
  • Recent research indicates that dense forests in the Sierra Nevada drain billions of gallons of water from the watershed each year.
  • Unusually dense tree stands degrade the vitality of the land, plants, animals, and even the trees.
  • Experts recommend managing forest restoration through controlled fires and the thinning of small, fire-prone trees.
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bioethics climate change conservation environment ecology trees nature water sustainability

How this tree-planting search engine is reforesting the Brazilian Amazon

Ecosia says the funds generated from users' searches help to plant one tree every second.

  • Ecosia is a search engine that donates 80 percent of its profits to tree-planting projects in multiple countries.
  • The search engine makes money by selling advertising space, but doesn't sell or track user data.
  • Planting trees is likely one of the cheapest and most effective ways to combat climate change.
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NASA camera captures Amazon fires

Satellite movie shows clouds of carbon monoxide drifting over South America.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
  • The Amazon fires were captured by the AIRS camera on the Aqua satellite.
  • A movie clip released by NASA shows a huge cloud of CO drifting across the continent.
  • Fortunately, carbon monoxide at this altitude has little effect on air quality.
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