Nothing better than curling up with some reading on a rainy day. So why not read the latest Forest Digest today!
- The Fate of Trees: How Climate Change May Alter Forests — Rolling Stone
According to Dr. Park Williams of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, southwest confers, such Douglas-fir, piñon pine and ponderosa pine, are in big trouble as the climate continues to warm. In his “forest-drought stress index,” the first of its kind, he predicts that the rise in temperatures will turn deadly for these species in 2050, which will have a dramatic effect on the amount of carbon sequestration.
- 20% of the world’s forests are the distance of a football field away from a forest edge — Treehugger
With cities, suburbs and agricultural fields gaining ground on forests, fragmentation is higher than ever. This could decrease the amount of biodiversity seen in forests by anywhere from 13 to 75 percent, meaning that vibrant and healthy wilderness areas and forests ecosystems could soon become a thing of the past.
- How well are companies doing on deforestation? Supply-Change.org offers a new transparency tool — Treehugger
How do your favorite brands and their companies stack up with others in the race to curb deforestation? You can now find out thanks to the nonprofit Forest Trends and their new website Supply-Change.org. Many companies are on track, but others are still lagging behind.
- Western forests decimated by pine beetles not more likely to burn — Phys.org
Mountain pine beetles left nearly 25,000 square miles of forest in the American west devastated, but a recent study conducted by the University of Colorado-Boulder has found that these infested forests are not at a higher risk for forest fires, something that was originally thought.
- Given new powers, Pakistanis take on illegal loggers — Reuters
Villagers in 52 northern Pakistan cities have now been given the power to confront, detain and fine illegal loggers in their areas. While this new government initiative is aimed to curb the country’s deforestation rate — currently 27,000 hectares per year — but many believe that the fines are still too small.
- Amazon Forest Becoming Less of a Climate Change Safety Net — The New York Times
The Amazon is struggling to soak up carbon from the atmosphere, which could mean that our main agent in the fight against climate change is no longer as dependable as we have hoped. The question now: Will other forests follow the Amazon’s lead or will they be able to pick up the slack?
For all our D.C. readers, don’t forget that this weekend is the closing of the Environmental Film Festival. Get out there and see some great films about forests, coral reefs and environmental activism!