Environment

Lawn Starter - 700 counties in our ranking have lost 1 kilo hectare (or about 2,470 acres) of tree cover or more between 2000 and 2020. However, over half of the counties in our ranking — 1,794 of them — experienced a net gain in tree cover between 2000 and 2020. Alaskan territories bookmarked the top and bottom of our ranking, with some of the largest tree canopy losses and gains. 5 regions finished with high rates of canopy degradation, including Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area (No. 1). Millions of acres of Alaskan wildlands have been impacted by wildfires, and since 2016, 2 million forested acres have been devastated by spruce beetle infestations. 

Politico - Summer burns in Phoenix. Scorching pavement blisters uncovered skin. Pus oozes from burned feet and bacteria-teeming wounds fester under sweat-soaked bandages for people living on the street.They might be the lucky ones.Relentless heat led to 645 deaths last year in Maricopa County, the most ever documented in Arizona’s biggest metropolitan area. The soaring number of heat mortalities — a 1,000 percent increase over 10 years — comes as temperatures reach new highs amid exploding eviction rates in the Phoenix area, leading to a collision of homelessness and record-setting heat waves.

NPR - ​​​​​​As wildfires burn in Canada and Mexico, U.S. fire officials are concerned about the upcoming wildfire season. Upwards of a quarter of the government's wildland firefighting jobs are vacant. Pay is low — especially for rookies — and the risks are high. Forests are overgrown, and rising heat and drought add to the dangers. Many who take the firefighting jobs can't afford to live in the places they're working. The labor shortage isn't new, especially since the pandemic, NPR's Kirk Siegler says. The federal government will likely continue using private contractors or borrowing crews from Mexico and Canada — strategies Siegler says are "not ideal."