forests

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W. Virginia Torn Over Coal Mining

Small town split on pros and cons of clearing mountains

(Newser) - As the mining industry clears mountains in Appalachia, a nearby town finds itself in a conundrum over the future of coal, writes John McQuaid in Smithsonian magazine. With prices and energy demands soaring, mining sites are multiplying—and while some  residents see the state’s oldest and most profitable industry...

Scientists Discover Forest by Searching Google Earth

Scientists find hundreds of new species in uncharted African forest

(Newser) - British scientists have stumbled upon an unexplored forest in northern Mozambique—without taking a step. A conservationist for the Royal Botanic Gardens was scanning for a new project site on Google Earth when he came across the untouched area known as Mount Mabu, and an expedition later discovered hundreds of...

Doom Looms for Spotted Owl
 Doom Looms for Spotted Owl

Doom Looms for Spotted Owl

Invasion of aggressive Eastern owl threatens controversial bird

(Newser) - The outlook appears bleak for America's most controversial bird, reports the Seattle Times. Despite logging bans in huge swathes of old-growth forests initiated 14 years ago to protect the northern spotted owl, researchers have discovered its numbers have dropped by nearly half. The decline is blamed on pre-1994 habitat loss...

Pine Beetles Eat Through Western Forests

Huge bug infestation doing more damage than wildfires

(Newser) - The biggest infestation of mountain pine beetles in decades is devastating huge tracts of forest in the Western states, USA Today reports; forestry workers say the bugs are killing even more trees than the wildfires ravaging California's forests. The larvae consume the inner bark of trees, usually lodgepole pines, killing...

Scientists ID Catastrophic Climate Change 'Tipping Zones'

9 danger signs that disaster is inevitable

(Newser) - Scientists have identified nine danger zones where global warming could be pushed past the point of no return within years, the Independent reports. The scenarios include the melting of ice in the Arctic and Antarctic, the collapse of the Indian and West African monsoons, and the death of forests in...

Greenies Aim to Stop Bush's Alaska Plan

Logging and development would overturn Clinton-era 'roadless rule'

(Newser) - Greenies are hoping to stop President Bush from opening Alaskan woodland to logging and road construction, the Washington Post reports. Bush unveiled plans yesterday to let developers tackle 2.4 million acres of Alaska's Tongass National Forest, the nation's largest national woodland. But angry environmentalists and the Alaska Forest Association...

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