trees

Tiny Cacao Flowers and Fickle Midges Are Part of a Pollination Puzzle That Limits Chocolate Production

Tiny Cacao Flowers and Fickle Midges Are Part of a Pollination Puzzle That Limits Chocolate Production

By DeWayne Shoemaker It’s almost impossible to imagine a world without chocolate. Yet cacao trees, which are the source of chocolate, are vulnerable. I am a passionate chocolate lover and an entomologist who studies cacao pollination. The crop’s sustainability currently appears to depend on several species of tiny fly pollinators, who are frankly struggling to […]

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    Biggest Windstorm to Batter Yosemite in 25 Years Topples Two Sequoias

    Biggest Windstorm to Batter Yosemite in 25 Years Topples Two Sequoias

    California‘s iconic Yosemite National Park will remain closed until at least Saturday, Jan. 30 after a windstorm caused millions of dollars of damage in the park and toppled two giant sequoias. The storm that struck Yosemite also battered most of California beginning Monday, Jan. 18, The Associated Press reported. It toppled trees and power lines. […]

    Why Curators Evacuated Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Parks’ Archives

    Why Curators Evacuated Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Parks’ Archives

    By Emily Lin Editor’s note: As wildfires came dangerously close to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in September 2020, the curator of the archives there worked with Emily Lin, librarian and head of digital curation at the University of California Merced, to evacuate the archives to keep them safe. In this interview, Lin explains […]

    Bipartisan Climate Bill Highlights Forest Restoration, Conservation

    Bipartisan Climate Bill Highlights Forest Restoration, Conservation

    In an era of extreme political polarization, opportunities for bipartisan efforts on climate change may seem impossible, but a recent introduction of rare climate legislation, authored by Republican and Democratic senators, could pioneer future agreements. Last Wednesday, U.S. Senators Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), co-chairs of the Bipartisan Senate Climate Solutions Caucus, introduced […]

    Climate Change Is Making Fall Leaves Change Color Sooner

    Climate Change Is Making Fall Leaves Change Color Sooner

    By Philip James As the days shorten and temperatures drop in the northern hemisphere, leaves begin to turn. We can enjoy glorious autumnal colors while the leaves are still on the trees and, later, kicking through a red, brown and gold carpet when out walking. When temperatures rise again in spring, the growing season for […]

    Singapore Will Plant One Million Trees by 2030

    Singapore Will Plant One Million Trees by 2030

    By Claire Turrell Languishing in the soft, silty mud, the living fossil looked as if it didn’t have a care in the world as it feasted on the fish left stranded in the tidal mangrove pools of the Sungei Buloh wetlands. However, the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) might have been a little less at ease […]