Protecting our thirsty urban trees from more harsh summers
With increasing heat in the Pacific Ocean making our weather both more variable and more powerful, the likelihood of a dry, hot El Nino summer is on the rise.
Oct 03, 2018
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Wildfires are inevitable – increasing home losses, fatalities and costs are not
Wildfire has been an integral part of California ecosystems for centuries. Now, however, nearly a third of homes in California are in wildland urban interface areas where houses intermingling with wildlands and fire is a ...
Spiraling wildfire fighting costs are largely beyond the Forest Service's control
Just six months after the devastating Thomas Fire – the largest blaze in California's history – was fully contained, the 2018 fire season is well under way. As of mid-July, large wildfires had already burned over 1 million ...
Cities and communities in the US losing 36 million trees a year
Scientists with the USDA Forest Service estimate that between 2009 and 2014, tree cover in the Nation's urban/community areas declined by 0.7 percent, which translates to losing an estimated 36 million trees or approximately ...
Growing need for urban forests as urban land expands
A new USDA Forest Service study projects that urban land in Lower 48 states will more than double between 2010 and 2060, which will affect forest and agricultural lands that are being converted to urban uses as well as expand ...
Green spaces in cities help control floods, store carbon
For many ecologists, fieldwork involves majestic mountains or rushing rivers or large tracts of wilderness. At the very least, it means exploring natural areas that aren't defined by human development.
20 percent more trees in megacities would mean cleaner air and water, lower carbon and energy use
Planting 20 percent more trees in our megacities would double the benefits of urban forests, like pollution reduction, carbon sequestration and energy reduction, according to a study in Ecological Modelling. The authors of ...
Ember research: Smaller branches pack the fastest, biggest fire-spreading punch
As the West tallies the damages from the 2017 wildfire season, researchers at Oregon State University are trying to learn more about how embers form and about the blaze-starting potential they carry.
Despite city tree benefits, California urban canopy cover per capita lowest in US
Trees in California communities are working overtime. From removing carbon dioxide and pollutants from the air, intercepting rainfall and increasing property values, California's 173.2 million city trees provide ecosystem ...
Millions of city trees at risk from rising temperatures
A new study has found that almost one quarter of trees in Australian cities are at risk from increasing temperatures in urban environments due to climate change and urban heat islands, posing a threat to some tree species ...
