tropical forests

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Disturbing Trend Seen in Record Rainforest Loss

Fires, not agriculture, are now the primary cause of tropical forest destruction

(Newser) - Tropical forests vanished at a record pace in 2024, losing 26,000 square miles—an area about the size of Ireland—according to new satellite data. Fires, rather than land clearance for agriculture, drove most of the loss for the first time, with the Amazon region facing unusually severe...

It Killed the Dinosaurs, but Then It Gave Birth to Something Else

You can thank the Chicxulub impact for our modern rainforests: study

(Newser) - We owe a lot to the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. For one thing, it gave us the lush tropical rainforests that help keep our planet healthy. That's according to a first-of-its-kind study published Friday in Science that looks at the effects of the...

Scientists Find Tropical Forest—in the Arctic

It would have thrived near the equator 380M years ago

(Newser) - Bet you didn't know there was a tropical forest in the Arctic. That's what scientists say they've uncovered in Svalbard, Norway, though the remnants of the forest are actually 380 million years old and fossilized. Back when the early trees—a type dubbed Protolepidodendropsis pulchra—were alive...

Nations Near Deal to Save Tropical Forests

Developing nations would be paid to preserve land

(Newser) - Looks like the UN climate talks under way in Cancun could yield at least one tangible deal—an agreement to start saving the world's tropical forests. The concept is simple enough: Developing nations such as Brazil, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea would be paid to stop bulldozing their forests, reports...

Germany Pledges Billions for Rainforest Protection

Funds tripled by 2012, add $785M a year after

(Newser) - Germany will spend billions of euros protecting tropical rainforests in an effort to halt global warming. Chancellor Angela Merkel said today at the United Nations' biodiversity conference that Germany will increase its funding for the conservation of rainforests from $330 million to $1.1 billion in the next three years...

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