February 26, 2024

Ecology

Guardian - Trees provide innumerable benefits to the world, from food to shelter to oxygen, but researchers have now found their dramatic rebound in the eastern US has delivered a further, stunning feat – the curtailing of the soaring temperatures caused by the climate crisis. While the US, like the rest of the world, has heated up since industrial times due to the burning of fossil fuels, scientists have long been puzzled by a so-called “warming hole” over parts of the US south-east where temperatures have flatlined, or even cooled, despite the unmistakable broader warming trend.  major reason for this anomaly, the new study finds, is the vast reforestation of much of the eastern US following the initial loss of large numbers of trees in the wake of European settlement in America. Such large expanses have been reforested in the past century – with enough trees sprouting back to cover an area larger than England – that it has helped stall the affect of global heating.

CNN-  Human-caused global warming is fueling longer droughts and extreme weather events that are posing problems to communities around the world. Scientists say Mexico City, a sprawling metropolis of nearly 22 million people and one of the world's biggest cities, may be just months away from "day zero" — when the taps run dry for huge swaths of the city. Experts say this comes as a result of several years of abnormally low rainfall, longer dry periods and high temperatures that have added stress to a water system already straining to cope with increased demand. In the coming weeks, Mexican authorities are expected to introduce significant restrictions on the water pumped from reservoirs ahead of the intense summer months.

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