Month: April 2022

To be without trees would, in the most literal way, to be without our roots.

Richard Mabey

From NASA Earth Observatory:

There are few other places like Daintree rainforest in far north Queensland. Thought to be among the most ancient forests in the world, Daintree has many plants with lineages that scientists have traced back hundreds of millions of years to a time when several continents were joined together as Gondwana. All seven of the world’s oldest surviving fern species can still be found in Daintree, as well as 12 of the world’s 19 most primitive flowering plants.

From Smithsonian Magazine:

So do guitar players. Saul “Slash” Hudson, best known as lead guitarist of Guns N’ Roses, owns more than 230 guitars, including priceless vintage models. Still, when he first tried a guitar made from The Tree, he was floored—the sound surpassed anything he’d heard before. “When I picked it up, I was completely humbled,” Slash told a reporter in 2016, and confirmed recently through a personal email. “It was a shock-and-awe moment. It changed everything I’d ever thought about acoustic guitars.”

From the Icelandic Forest Service:

At the time of human settlement almost 1150 years ago, birch forest and woodland covered 25-40% of Iceland’s land area. The relatively tall (to 15 m) birch forests of sheltered valleys graded to birch and willow scrub toward the coast, on exposed sites and in wetland areas and to willow tundra at high elevations.

From Wikipedia:

The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist was the theft over several months in 2011 and 2012 of nearly 3,000 tonnes (3,000 long tons; 3,300 short tons) of maple syrup, valued at C$18.7 million from a storage facility in Quebec. The facility was operated by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers who represent 77% of the global maple syrup supply. Adjusted for inflation (2020), the heist is the most valuable in Canadian history.

From PBS:

America’s Forests with Chuck Leavell travels to California. Meet residents who survived the tragedy of wildfires and different ways to prevent future disasters. Chuck plants redwoods that might grow to be the tallest trees on the planet, learns about the trick of turning wood chips into electricity at a biomass plant, and wraps up with a jam session and tour of the Fender Instrument Factory.

Previously

From Seacoast Online:

The Old Lady, the largest sugar maple in the country, came down Monday before a vigil attended by Buxtons, their friends and even strangers. Though the weather was cold and raw, the event brought spectators throughout the day to pay their respects to what Janet Buxton, the current resident, called “The Old Lady.”

“My heart is breaking,” Buxton said. 

From Nikon Small World:

Japanese specialty paper fibers (Kozo/Mulberry)
Charles J. Kazilek

Image of Distinction
2007 Photomicrography Competition

From NASA Earth Observatory:

Central America experienced one of its most intense hurricane seasons in 2020. Two major hurricanes and a handful of other late-blooming storms took many lives, displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and caused billions of dollars in economic losses. The storms also left severe scars on the landscape, particularly in some mangrove ecosystems.

Mangroves are networks of hardy trees and shrubs that typically grow in coastal wetlands. They are valuable because they help prevent coastal erosion, absorb carbon from the atmosphere, and provide habitat for fish and other marine animals. But recent hurricane seasons in Central America and Mexico have threatened some of these vulnerable wetland forests. Using satellite data and drone imagery, scientists from NASA and other international institutions have been evaluating mangrove damage from the 2020 hurricane season.

From the BBC:

When animal welfare officers received a report of an unusual animal lurking in a tree in the Polish city of Krakow, they were not sure what to expect.

“People aren’t opening their windows because they’re afraid it will go into their house,” the woman reportedly said.