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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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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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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Why the number of fires in the Amazon is terrifying climate experts

The blazes may be the first step in a hellish downward spiral.

Image source: Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty
  • Never before has so much of the Amazon rainforest been on fire.
  • The fires are largely set by humans clearing areas for development.
  • The fires may push us into a vicious, irreversible climate pattern.
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