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Articles on Forests

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Scientists have been consistently documenting environmental changes at research sites like this one in the Cascade Mountains for decades. US Forest Service

Climate change is already disrupting US forests and coasts – here’s what we’re seeing at 5 long-term research sites

This kind of research, with consistent data collection at the same locations over time, helps support global understanding of climate change.
The Cedar Creek Fire burns in Washington’s Methow Valley in late July 2021. Jessica Kelley

How years of fighting every wildfire helped fuel the Western megafires of today

More than 40 fire scientists and forest ecologists in the US and Canada teamed up to investigate why wildfires are getting more extreme. Climate change is part of the problem, but there’s more.
Juniper trees, common in Arizona’s Prescott National Forest, have been dying with the drought. Benjamin Roe/USDA Forest Service via AP

Trees are dying of thirst in the Western drought – here’s what’s going on inside their veins

Without enough water, trees can develop embolisms, similar to blockages in human blood vessels, and they’re more likely to die from drought or fires.
With the evidence uncovered by paleontologists, an artist sketched El Bosque Petrificado Piedra Chamana as it might have looked long before humans. Mariah Slovacek/NPS-GIP

A volcanic eruption 39 million years ago buried a forest in Peru – now the petrified trees are revealing South America’s primeval history

Using remnants of fossilized trees, scientists and an artist figured out what the forest looked like long before humans existed.
Heat and dryness are leaving high mountain areas more vulnerable to forest fires. David McNew/Getty Images

Western fires are burning higher in the mountains at unprecedented rates – it’s a clear sign of climate change

As the risk of fires rises in areas once considered too wet to burn, it creates hazards for mountain communities and for downstream water supplies.
Aerial view of native seedlings for forest restoration at the the Instituto Terra, Aimores, Brazil. Christian Ender/Getty Images

Arbor Day: Why planting trees isn’t enough

Large-scale tree-planting projects are politically popular and media-friendly, but without effective planning and long-term management, they can do more harm than good.
A helicopter drops water on a forest fire in Alaska. Michael Risinger/U.S. Army National Guard

As extreme fires transform Alaska’s boreal forest, deciduous trees put a brake on carbon loss and how fast the forest burns

A new study finds more deciduous trees like aspen are growing in after severe fires in the region, and that has some unexpected impacts.

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