Rainforests News

October 9, 2025

Top Headlines

Record Amazon Fires Release More Carbon Than an Entire Country

Oct. 8, 2025 — The Amazon has suffered its most destructive fire season in more than two decades, releasing a staggering 791 million tons of carbon dioxide—on par with Germany’s annual emissions. Scientists found that for the first time, fire-driven ...

Ocean Heatwaves Are Breaking Earth’s Hidden Climate Engine

Oct. 7, 2025 — Marine heatwaves can jam the ocean’s natural carbon conveyor belt, preventing carbon from reaching the deep sea. Researchers studying two major heatwaves in the Gulf of Alaska found that plankton shifts caused carbon to build up near the surface ...

Scientists Just Recreated a Wildfire That Made Its Own Weather

Oct. 2, 2025 — In 2020, California’s Creek Fire became so intense that it generated its own thunderstorm, a phenomenon called a pyrocumulonimbus cloud. For years, scientists struggled to replicate these explosive fire-born storms in climate models, leaving major ...

Strange New Hybrid Bird Spotted in Texas Backyard

Sep. 20, 2025 — In Texas, biologists have documented an extraordinary bird — the natural hybrid offspring of a green jay and a blue jay. Once separated by millions of years of evolution and distinct ranges, the two species were brought together as climate change ...

DNA from Old Ants Reveals a Hidden Insect Apocalypse in Fiji

Sep. 20, 2025 — Insects are essential for ecosystems, but mounting evidence suggests many populations are collapsing under modern pressures. A new study used cutting-edge genomic techniques on museum specimens to track centuries of ant biodiversity across Fiji. The ...

Wildfire Smoke Could Kill 70,000 Americans a Year by 2050

Sep. 19, 2025 — Wildfires are no longer a seasonal nuisance but a deadly, nationwide health crisis. Fueled by climate change, smoke is spreading farther and lingering longer, with new research warning of tens of thousands of additional deaths annually by ...

Soil Warming Experiments Challenge Assumptions About Climate Change

Sep. 17, 2025 — Heating alone won’t drive soil microbes to release more carbon dioxide — they need added carbon and nutrients to thrive. This finding challenges assumptions about how climate warming influences soil ...

Scientists Just Found Hidden Parasitic Wasps Spreading Across the U. S.

Sep. 15, 2025 — Researchers discovered two new parasitic wasp species living in the U.S., tracing their origins back to Europe and uncovering clues about how they spread. Their arrival raises fresh questions about biodiversity, ecological risks, and the role of ...

Scientists Uncover Wildfire Paradox That’s Putting 440 Million People in Danger

Aug. 31, 2025 — A massive global study uncovered a striking paradox: even as total burned land has dropped by more than a quarter since 2002, human exposure to wildfires has skyrocketed. Africa accounts for a ...

Maui’s Fires Drove a 67% Jump in Deaths. Most Went Uncounted

Aug. 25, 2025 — Researchers uncovered that the Maui wildfires caused a spike in deaths far higher than reported, with hidden fatalities linked to fire, smoke, and lack of medical access. They warn that prevention rooted in Native Hawaiian ecological knowledge is ...

The Surprising Reason Timber Plantations Explode Into Megafires

Aug. 21, 2025 — Industrial forests, packed with evenly spaced trees, face nearly 50% higher odds of megafires than public lands. A lidar-powered study of California’s Sierra Nevada reveals how dense plantations feed fire severity, but also shows that proactive ...

This Is Where Tree Planting Has the Biggest Climate Impact

Aug. 21, 2025 — Planting more trees can help cool the planet and reduce fire risk—but where they are planted matters. According to UC Riverside researchers, tropical regions provide the most powerful climate benefits because trees there grow year-round, absorb ...

Latest Headlines

updated 2:04pm EDT

Protected Seas Help Kelp Forests Bounce Back from Heatwaves

Aug. 20, 2025 — Kelp forests bounce back faster from marine heatwaves when shielded inside Marine Protected Areas. UCLA researchers found that fishing restrictions and predator protection strengthen ecosystem ...

Scientists Just Found a Hidden Factor Behind Earth’s Methane Surge

Aug. 17, 2025 — Roughly two-thirds of all atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas, comes from methanogens. Tracking down which methanogens in which environment produce methane with a specific isotope signature ...

Ancient Predators and Giant Amphibians Found in African Fossil Treasure Trove

Aug. 14, 2025 — Over 15 years of fossil excavations in Tanzania and Zambia have revealed a vivid portrait of life before Earth s most devastating mass extinction 252 ...

The Hidden Climate Battle Between Forests and the Ocean

Aug. 2, 2025 — Between 2003 and 2021, Earth saw a net boost in photosynthesis, mainly thanks to land plants thriving in warming, wetter conditions—especially in temperate and high-latitude regions. Meanwhile, ...

Drones Reveal 41,000-Turtle Nesting Mega-Site Hidden in the Amazon

July 29, 2025 — A team at the University of Florida used drones and smart modeling to accurately count over 41,000 endangered turtles nesting along the Amazon’s Guaporé River—revealing the world’s largest ...

This Genetic Breakthrough Could Help Thousands of Species Cheat Extinction

July 21, 2025 — Gene editing may hold the key to rescuing endangered species—not just by preserving them, but by restoring their lost genetic diversity using DNA from museum specimens and related species. ...

These Dogs Are Trained to Sniff out an Invasive Insect—and They're Shockingly Good at It

July 17, 2025 — Dogs trained by everyday pet owners are proving to be surprisingly powerful allies in the fight against the invasive spotted lanternfly. In a ...

They Fled the Flames—now Jaguars Rule a Wetland Refuge

July 16, 2025 — After devastating wildfires scorched the Brazilian Pantanal, an unexpected phenomenon unfolded—more jaguars began arriving at a remote wetland already known for having the densest jaguar population ...

No Training Needed: How Humans Instinctively Read Nature’s Signals

July 10, 2025 — People can intuitively sense how biodiverse a forest is just by looking at photos or listening to sounds, and their gut feelings surprisingly line up with what scientists ...

Honey Bees Remove 80% of Pollen—leaving Native Bees With Nothing

July 7, 2025 — Feral honey bees, once celebrated for their agricultural value, are now threatening native ecosystems in Southern California by monopolizing pollen sources and overwhelming native pollinators. A new ...

Climate Is Changing Fast—and Forests Are 200 Years Behind

July 4, 2025 — Forests aren’t keeping up with today’s climate chaos. While temperatures soar within decades, tree populations take 100 to 200 years to shift in response. A sweeping new analysis of ancient ...

When Rainforests Died, the Planet Caught Fire: New Clues from Earth’s Greatest Extinction

July 3, 2025 — When Siberian volcanoes kicked off the Great Dying, the real climate villain turned out to be the rainforests themselves: once they collapsed, Earth’s biggest carbon sponge vanished, CO₂ ...

Rainforest Deaths Are Surging and Scientists Just Found the Shocking Cause

July 3, 2025 — Tropical trees are dying faster than ever, and it's not just heat or drought to blame. Scientists have uncovered a surprising culprit: ordinary thunderstorms. These quick, fierce storms, powered ...

Tiny Creatures, Massive Impact: How Zooplankton Store 65 Million Tonnes of Carbon Annually

June 27, 2025 — Zooplankton like copepods aren’t just fish food—they’re carbon-hauling powerhouses. By diving deep into the ocean each winter, they’re secretly stashing 65 million tonnes of carbon far below ...

Fighting Fire With Fire: How Prescribed Burns Reduce Wildfire Damage and Pollution

June 30, 2025 — Wildfires are becoming more intense and dangerous, but a new Stanford-led study offers hope: prescribed burns—intentionally set, controlled fires—can significantly lessen their impact. By ...

Wildfires Threaten Water Quality for Up to Eight Years After They Burn

June 24, 2025 — Wildfires don’t just leave behind scorched earth—they leave a toxic legacy in Western rivers that can linger for nearly a decade. A sweeping new study analyzed over 100,000 water samples from ...

Fruit-Eating Mastodons? Ancient Fossils Confirm a Long-Lost Ecological Alliance

June 14, 2025 — Ten thousand years after mastodons disappeared, scientists have unearthed powerful fossil evidence proving these elephant cousins were vital seed spreaders for large-fruited trees in South America. ...

Space-Laser AI Maps Forest Carbon in Minutes—a Game-Changer for Climate Science

June 14, 2025 — A pioneering study reveals how archaeologists' satellite tools can be repurposed to tackle climate change. By using AI and satellite LiDAR imagery from NASA and ESA, researchers have found a ...

83% of Earth’s Climate-Critical Fungi Are Still Unknown

June 15, 2025 — Underground fungi may be one of Earth s most powerful and overlooked allies in the fight against climate change, yet most of them remain unknown to science. Known only by DNA, these "dark ...

Does Outdoor Air Pollution Affect Indoor Air Quality? It Could Depend on Buildings' HVAC

May 29, 2025 — Researchers determined how much outdoor particulate pollution affects indoor air quality. Their study concluded pollution from inversion and dust events is kept out of buildings, but wildfire smoke ...

Agriculture in Forests Can Provide Climate and Economic Dividends

May 29, 2025 — Forest-based agroforestry can restore forests, promote livelihoods, and combat climate change, but emerging agroforestry initiatives focusing only on tree planting is leading to missed opportunities ...

When the Forest Is No Longer a Home -- Forest Bats Seek Refuge in Settlements

May 28, 2025 — Many bat species native to Germany, such as the Leisler's bat, are forest specialists. However, as it is becoming increasingly hard for them to find tree hollows in forest plantations, so they ...

New Study Analyzes Air Quality Impacts of Wildfire Smoke

May 27, 2025 — With wildfires increasing in frequency, severity, and size in the Western U.S., researchers are determined to better understand how smoke impacts air quality, public health, and even the weather. As ...

Nordic Studies Show the Significance of Old-Growth Forests for Biodiversity

May 27, 2025 — Researchers conducted a systematic review of 99 scientific publications that compared the flora or fauna of old-growth forests, managed forests and clearcut sites in boreal Europe. The reviewed ...

El Niño and La Niña Climate Swings Threaten Mangroves Worldwide

May 23, 2025 — New international research demonstrates global-scale patterns in how El Ni o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influences mangrove growth and degradation. Previously, impacts had only been documented at ...

When the Sea Moves Inland: A Global Climate Wake-Up Call from Bangladesh's Delta

May 23, 2025 — As sea levels climb and weather grows more extreme, coastal regions everywhere are facing a creeping threat: salt. Salinization of freshwater and soils adversely affects 500 million people around the ...

Managing Surrogate Species, Providing a Conservation Umbrella for More Species

May 23, 2025 — A new study shows that monitoring and managing select bird species can provide benefits for other species within specific ...

New Study Reveals How Competition Between Algae Is Transforming the Gulf of Maine

May 22, 2025 — New research shows how rapidly proliferating turf algae are waging 'chemical warfare' to inhibit the recovery of kelp forests along Maine's warming ...

Songbirds' Great Risk Results in Great Genetic Reward

May 21, 2025 — Songbirds who make the arduous flight from their nesting sites in northern boreal forests to warm, southern climates in the winter may be rewarded for their journey with greater genetic ...

Fool's Gold: A Hidden Climate Stabilizer

May 21, 2025 — Researchers look to extremes in the past to study how the system reacts to imbalances. They detail an overlooked mechanism for how the ocean can help stabilize massive releases of carbon into the ...