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Climate change is making it harder to revive damaged land
In the early 1980s, ecological restoration was much like cleaning up after a rowdy house party: trying to return a degraded habitat to its former pristine condition… “I’ve always been taught that restoration is about taking a degraded site and restoring it back to what it was before the disturbance,” Campbell said.
But increasingly, scientists who study ecosystems, as well as land managers who do restoration work, are questioning that model of ecological restoration, which relies on the idea of a stable “climax community,” even though many ecosystems are always changing…
Earth just had its 400th straight warmer-than-average month to global warming
No, it’s not a fluke. Yes, we can do something about it. But it’s not something we can wait 10 years for to take action. The lands and waters you love are at risk. Check out the drivers and the trends. You and your land trust can play a role in slowing it down…
What moral heroes are made of
Conservation might be seen as a heroic task. It involves taking the here-and-now and thinking into the future, against great odds. With climate change it means re-thinking what is a good use of our time and what is truly urgent. Just what are moral heroes made of? Maybe they are describing you…
Can we break the spiral of silence on climate change?
What can ordinary people do to combat the extraordinary problem of climate change? Talk, and keep on talking. Yet, that’s a step some of us are reluctant to take…
Climate change is happening, here’s how you can help
Talking about climate change and the impacts it is having on the animals, communities, and landscapes people care about is critical. Walking the walk demonstrates the land trust really cares about the issue and is serious about its pledge to conserve land for generations to come.
Providing community members with steps they can take is central to them staying involved and being part of the solution. Check out how one land trust is doing this…
California is turning farms into carbon-sucking factories
In a grand experiment, California switched on a fleet of high-tech greenhouse gas removal machines last month. Funded by the state’s cap-and-trade program, they’re designed to reverse climate change by sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. These wonderfully complex machines are more high-tech than anything humans have designed. They’re called plants.
Seriously though…
Brilliant teen’s invention to remove all plastic from ocean is finally becoming a reality
A solution to the catastrophic plastic pollution in the ocean, now a problem even in the Great Lakes, is getting a major boost. When Boyan Slat was 16 years old, he found himself coming across more plastic than fish while diving in Greece. It was then that he decided to dedicate a high school project to investigating ocean plastic pollution and how he could make a difference.
Check out what’s about to happen off the coast of California this summer…
Is there plastic in your beer? Probably
Love beer? How about water? According to a new study published in the Public Library of Science’s open access journal, micro-plastics found in the Great Lakes are making their way into the region’s beer. That’s not a good thing for your health…
Ticks devastate Maine, N.H. moose populations
An insidious pest is killing about 70 percent of moose calves across Maine and New Hampshire, and their deadly work is being aided by warming temperatures and shorter winters that allow the parasites to survive longer, scientists believe…
Climate change: Giant hail set to batter North America
Research is documenting that extreme weather is on the rise that will wreak havoc on farms and ranches. As a result, it is likely there will be increased need to cover crops and provide animals shelter to avoid critical damage from hail. That will likely mean drafting long-term conservation agreements (conservation easements) that want farming and ranching to succeed to allow for structures beyond the farmstead areas (building envelopes).
To get a sense of what we are talking about, check out the video or you can read the short article…