Forests

"The smoke from the wildfires that burned through Los Angeles in January smelled like plastic and was so thick that it hid the ocean. Firefighters who responded developed instant migraines, coughed up black goo and dropped to their knees, vomiting and dizzy."

"In the rush to put out wildfires, hundreds of millions of litres of fire retardant are dropped on forests across North America. New research shows the effects they can have on water and ecosystems — especially when accidents happen"

"For decades, the dry season in the Amazon rainforest has been getting drier. A new study, published on Tuesday, found that about 75 percent of the decrease in rainfall is directly linked to deforestation."

"Dr Ed Pyne snips a leaf from the Druids Oak, an 800-year-old tree that has watched over this woodland in Buckinghamshire for centuries, enduring droughts, storms, heatwaves and more. "We know that this tree is a survivor," he says, taking a leaf sample for DNA testing."

"Two firefighters working on the Bear Gulch Fire [Wash.] were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents on Wednesday."

"From space, NASA collects data that’s crucial for public health. Potential cuts could threaten that work."

"The Trump administration on Wednesday took formal steps to rescind a decades-old rule that protects 58.5 million acres of wild areas in national forests, including 4.4 million acres in California."

"Donald Trump’s attacks on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) risk exposing the US to another Hurricane Katrina, staff at the agency have warned Congress in a withering critique that also takes aim at its current leadership."

"Healthy fungal networks help trees and plants grow, making them key to successful reforestation. The only problem? Almost nothing is known about this subterranean ecology"

"The Trump administration is also looking to revive mining in the popular wilderness area"