Tag: forest

What I Found on the 365-Mile Trail of a Lost Folk Hero

The Old Leatherman, a sort of real-life Northeastern Sasquatch, g​ave me an excuse to step outside my own life.

The Old Leatherman, a sort of real-life Northeastern Sasquatch, g​ave me an excuse to step outside my own life.
Sometime in the 1850s or ’60s, at a terrible moment in U.S. history, a strange man seemed to sprout, out of nowhere, into the rocky landscape between New York City and Hartford. The word “strange” hardly captures his strangeness. He was rough and hairy, and he wandered around on back roads, sleeping in caves. Above all, he refused to explain himself. As one newspaper put it: “He is a mystery, and a very greasy and ill-odored one.” Other papers referred to him as “the animal” or (just throwing up their hands) “this uncouth and unkempt ‘What is it?’”

But the strangest thing about the stranger was his suit.

LINK: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/09/magazine/old-leatherman-walk-new-york-connecticut.html

The Tipping Points of Climate Change — and Where We Stand

We’re nearly halfway through the 2020s, dubbed the most decisive decade for action on climate change. Where exactly do things stand? Climate impact scholar Johan Rockström offers the most up-to-date scientific assessment of the state of the planet and explains what must be done to preserve Earth’s resilience to human pressure.

Ishmael Series

Ishmael Series

Descriptions: https://www.goodreads.com/series/96452-ishmael

Download: https://libgen.rs/fiction/4EE3B6D8E3F84E05A344237F3B8CEB30

‘We were in disbelief’: Antarctica is behaving in a way we’ve never seen before. Can it recover?

Antarctic sea ice has been disappearing over the last several summers. Now, climate scientists are wondering whether it will ever come back.

A small boat glides around patches of sea ice in the water off Deception Island in Antarctica. Sea ice in the region grows from a minimum in summer to a maximum in winter, but in the last several years, the sea ice extent has been shrinking in summer. (Image credit: karenfoleyphotography / Alamy Stock Photo)
A small boat glides around patches of sea ice in the water off Deception Island in Antarctica. Sea ice in the region grows from a minimum in summer to a maximum in winter, but in the last several years, the sea ice extent has been shrinking in summer. (Image credit: karenfoleyphotography / Alamy Stock Photo)

LINK: https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/antarctica/we-were-in-disbelief-antarctica-is-behaving-in-a-way-weve-never-seen-before-can-it-recover

2023 smashes record for world’s hottest year by huge margin

Rapid reduction in fossil fuel burning urgently needed to preserve liveable conditions, say scientists, as climate damage deepens

Aftermath of a wildfire caused by a deadly heatwave near the city of Santa Juana, Chile, in February 2023. Photograph: Pablo Hidalgo/EPA
Aftermath of a wildfire caused by a deadly heatwave near the city of Santa Juana, Chile, in February 2023. Photograph: Pablo Hidalgo/EPA

2023 “smashed” the record for the hottest year by a huge margin, providing “dramatic testimony” of how much warmer and more dangerous today’s climate is from the cooler one in which human civilization developed.

Link to article: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/09/2023-record-world-hottest-climate-fossil-fuel

U.S. Lawyer Arrested After Fatally Shooting 2 Protesters on Camera in Panama

An American lawyer has been arrested in Panama after allegedly shooting two people taking part in an environmental protest Tuesday. Local media reports identified Kenneth Darlington, 77, as a Panama-born U.S. citizen. On Tuesday, he allegedly walked up to a group of protesters blocking the Pan-American Highway in the Chame District and remonstrated with the attendees. He then pulled out a pistol and—in front of a group of journalists reporting on the protest—allegedly opened fire. One victim, Abdiel Díaz Chávez, died at the scene, while another Iván Rodríguez Mendoza, was pronounced dead at a medical facility, according to TVN. Both victims were teachers, the report said, adding that Darlington has been charged with aggravated homicide and illegal possession of firearms.

An American lawyer has been arrested in Panama after allegedly shooting two people taking part in an environmental protest Tuesday. Local media reports identified Kenneth Darlington, 77, as a Panama-born U.S. citizen. On Tuesday, he allegedly walked up to a group of protesters blocking the Pan-American Highway in the Chame District and remonstrated with the attendees. He then pulled out a pistol and—in front of a group of journalists reporting on the protest—allegedly opened fire. One victim, Abdiel Díaz Chávez, died at the scene, while another Iván Rodríguez Mendoza, was pronounced dead at a medical facility, according to TVN. Both victims were teachers, the report said, adding that Darlington has been charged with aggravated homicide and illegal possession of firearms.

LINK: https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-lawyer-kenneth-darlington-arrested-after-fatally-shooting-2-environmental-protesters-on-camera-in-panama

This year ‘virtually certain’ to be warmest in 125,000 years, EU scientists say

This year is "virtually certain" to be the warmest in 125,000 years, European Union scientists said on Wednesday

This year is “virtually certain” to be the warmest in 125,000 years, European Union scientists said on Wednesday, after data showed last month was the world’s hottest October in that period.

Last month smashed through the previous October temperature record, from 2019, by a massive margin, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said.

“The record was broken by 0.4 degrees Celsius, which is a huge margin,” said C3S Deputy Director Samantha Burgess, who described the October temperature anomaly as “very extreme”.

The heat is a result of continued greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, combined with the emergence this year of the El Nino weather pattern, which warms the surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Globally, the average surface air temperature in October was 1.7 degrees Celsius warmer than the same month in 1850-1900, which Copernicus defines as the pre-industrial period.

The record-breaking October means 2023 is now “virtually certain” to be the warmest year recorded, C3S said in a statement. The previous record was 2016 – another El Nino year.

Copernicus’ dataset goes back to 1940. “When we combine our data with the IPCC, then we can say that this is the warmest year for the last 125,000 years,” Burgess said.

LINK: https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/this-year-virtually-certain-be-warmest-125000-years-eu-scientists-say-2023-11-08/

a massive collection of prehistoric rock art spanning over 8 miles within the Serra da Capivara mountains

Haunting Sounds Made by World’s Largest Living Thing Recorded

We can now hear one of the largest and most ancient living organisms on Earth whisper with the tremble of a million leaves echoing through its roots.The forest made of a single tree known as Pando ("I spread" in Latin) has 47,000 stems (all with the same DNA) sprouting from a shared root system over 100 acres (40 hectares) of Utah. Here, this lone male quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) gradually grew into a massive 6,000 metric tons of life.After possibly 12,000 years of life on Earth, this massive plant, whose tree-like stems tower up to 24 meters (80 feet), surely has plenty to say. And recordings released this year let us 'hear' it like never before."The findings are tantalizing," Lance Oditt, founder of Friends of Pando, said when the project was unveiled in May.

We can now hear one of the largest and most ancient living organisms on Earth whisper with the tremble of a million leaves echoing through its roots.

The forest made of a single tree known as Pando (“I spread” in Latin) has 47,000 stems (all with the same DNA) sprouting from a shared root system over 100 acres (40 hectares) of Utah. Here, this lone male quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) gradually grew into a massive 6,000 metric tons of life.

After possibly 12,000 years of life on Earth, this massive plant, whose tree-like stems tower up to 24 meters (80 feet), surely has plenty to say. And recordings released this year let us ‘hear’ it like never before.

“The findings are tantalizing,” Lance Oditt, founder of Friends of Pando, said when the project was unveiled in May.

LINK: https://www.sciencealert.com/haunting-sounds-made-by-worlds-largest-living-thing-recorded

Living in the Time of Dying – Watch Full Documentary

Living in The Time of Dying is an unflinching look at what it means to be living in the midst of climate catastrophe and finding purpose and meaning within it. Recognising the magnitude of the climate crisis we are facing, independent filmmaker Michael Shaw, sells his house to travel around the world looking for answers. Pretty soon we begin to see how deep the predicament goes along with the systems and ways of thinking that brought us here.