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.
The ponderosa pine could suffer great declines in the coming years as the climate warms at an extremely fast rate.
The ponderosa pine could suffer great declines in the coming years as the climate warms at an extremely fast rate.
  • Western forests decimated by pine beetles not more likely to burnPhys.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 loggersReuters
    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 NetThe 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!