1+ week, 4+ day ago   (828+ words) WorldAtlas In southeast Alaska, researchers worked out which way storms blew four centuries ago. They did it by noting which way the fallen trunks pointed. A forest that leans one way is a record, and what it records changes every…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago   (264+ words) A single bolt of lightning can travel for miles across the sky before it ever reaches the ground. It is essentially a giant electrical spark created inside a thunderstorm. Strong winds toss water droplets, ice crystals, and tiny bits of…...

4+ day, 3+ hour ago   (1210+ words) worldatlas.com The process of creating a forest from seed can take decades or even centuries. But when trees have the ability to clone themselves, a forest can spring up in a few seasons. Botanists have cataloged roughly 60,000 tree species…...

4+ day, 1+ hour ago   (570+ words) WorldAtlas Black bears are remarkably adaptable animals, but they remain closely tied to forests above all else. Thick cover gives them places to rest and raise cubs, while berries, nuts, insects, and wildlife found throughout the wooded landscape keep them…...

4+ day, 21+ hour ago   (820+ words) WorldAtlas Stand in almost any patch of woods east of the Mississippi River, and there is a good chance the oldest tree around is not much older than a great-grandparent. That is not because American forests are dying, but because…...

3+ week, 5+ day ago   (726+ words) WorldAtlas They root up meadows overnight, destroy native habitat, breed faster than almost anything can control them, and shrug off nearly every attempt to get rid of them. Feral swine, known variously as wild boar, wild hogs, and feral pigs,…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago   (1142+ words) WorldAtlas The native fish of the American West have taken a brutal beating. A century of dams, water diversions, drought, and introduced species pushed dozens of them toward oblivion, and the region's trout, chub, and salmon are among the most…...