The future of forests

From Yellowstone to the Amazon to the Arctic, wildfires are getting bigger, hotter, and more frequent as the climate changes. Australia’s forest fires in 2019 and 2020 burned an area as big as Florida. That’s devastating enough. But often overlooked amid the initial carnage is what happens after the trees die: Many forests now struggle to recover. It isn’t always triggered by fire—but it is caused by climate change. In many places, forests are no longer regenerating on their own. Some of the world’s most significant stands are instead transitioning to something new. Some will never be the same. Others may not come back at all.

Sixteen young people are suing the state of Montana, arguing that state lawmakers have prioritized the business interests of the fossil fuel industry over their future. When their case is heard next February, it will be the first in a wave of youth-led climate lawsuits to successfully go to trial. Experts say a decision in favor of the 16 youth plaintiffs could have sweeping implications across the country, setting guard rails for how politicians are able to protect the interests of extractive corporations.

This winter saw the most wolves from Yellowstone National Park killed in about a century. That’s because states neighboring the park changed hunting rules in an effort to reduce the animals’ numbers. At the same time, wolf biologists inside the park are finding out what losing the animals means. “This was the winter of my discontent,” Yellowstone National Park senior wolf biologist Doug Smith says.

Boulder, Colorado, is again under a red flag warning for extreme wildfire danger as powerful winds like those that fanned a destructive blaze in December return to the drought stricken region.

The EPA downgrade of Northern Front Range ozone pollution to “severe” from “serious” on Tuesday will require hundreds of Colorado companies to get emission permits from a critically backlogged state system, but health officials say their request for a steep budget increase from lawmakers will clear the jam and improve the air.