trees

The ice age had a solar storm so powerful that its effects can still be detected in trees

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How powerful can it become a solar storm? More than one will have ever asked this question for mere curiosity. And also out of necessity. Answering this question is important in order to prepare in the face of potential storms of great magnitude, but it is complicated: we have a limited sample and the most intensity events are those that happen less frequently. But now we have a new track. The mother of all storms. A recent study has analyzed The remnants of the greatest solar storm of which we have record to date. The storm, about 500 times more powerful than the largest solar storm since the beginning of the space era, would have happened about 14,300 years ago. Although We already had enough previous clues about this eventThe new study facilitates the work of preparing for such events, and can also help us improve our radiocarbon dating techniques. 14,300 years ago. The discovery of this solar storm has been possible thanks to the detection of a radiocarbon peak, the well-known carbon-14, happened towards the year 12,350 AEC, towards the end of the last glacial period. This implies that the storm is not only the most powerful of which we have record, it is also the only solar storm known outside the Holocene, the contemporary geological era (if we exclude the existence debated from the anthropocene). Different storms. The storm analyzed was a solar particle storm. There are different events That we can catalog as solar storms, each with its characteristics, such as radio blackouts, solar radiation storms or geomagnetic storms. Radiation storms, such as the one studied, are produced when large amounts of charged particles from the sun reach the magnetic field of the earth. This field tends to divert the particles towards the poles, making the effect on high latitudes greater. Carbon 14. The team responsible for the new study He turned to a new model Chemist-Climatic, Socol: 14C-EX, for analysis. This is a model designed to rebuild solar storms of particles in climatic conditions of the past glaciations. Thanks to this model, they explain, it was possible to verify that this solar storm was 18% stronger than the event of the year 775 EC, the largest solar storm known until the discovery of this event. “Compared to the largest event in the Modern Era of Satellites (the 2005 particle storm) the old 12,350 AC event was about 500 times more intense, according to our estimates,” explained in a press release Kseniia Golubenko, co -author of the study The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Earth and Planetary Science Letters. More than establishing a record. The study allows us to establish a new framework to the “most pessimistic scenario,” says Golubenko. Knowing what we can face gives us essential tools when preventing this type of event. The study can also help scientists who study something very different: archaeologists. The analysis has been based on carbon-14, a very important isotope when it comes to very diverse organic matter remains, from fabrics to ships. Understanding the peaks of this isotope caused by the impact of loaded particles from the Sun can help us to date back objects created in past times. In Xataka | NASA has calculated how much time we would have to prepare before a devastating solar storm and has got to work to get that time Image | NASA/GSFC/CIL

Apple does not know how to meet their environmental goals, so they have started planting trees crazy

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The Big Tech are in the middle of a change. Not that of artificial intelligence –that too-but that of Achieve carbon neutrality. On this path to decarbonization with Objectives for 2030 and 2050Apple is one of the companies that have the most interest in users to know that they care about the environment. In fact, in the presentation event of the iPhone 15 and of Apple Watch Series 9being one of the most important technological events of the year, the company shared a Fun video. In it, their mandamases met with the representation of the Earth to inform about their progress in reducing emissions, the installation of Solar panels in California and the increase in recycled materials on its devices. But renewables are not enough to achieve those objectives, and Apple has made the decision to plant tens of thousands of trees. He is doing it in Brazil with the aim of reconverting grasslands in forests that catch carbon, but everything that shines is not gold. A two times bigger forest than Manhattan There is a trend among companies that we are seeing in recent years. To reduce carbon emissions, it is not enough to install more renewable, reduce the consumption in your data centers and optimize transport. In Fast Company We read that these actions are not enough to reach the objectives and that the secret is in the direct capture of CO₂ (and there are controversy about it about its effectiveness). We are seeing how there are companies that are investigating the creation of buildings that capture carbon dioxide, but also experiments to discover What kind of trees They are the ones who catch the most. Apple ha reduced Emissions in 60% compared to 2015 and expect to reach 75% of a 2030. The problem is to exceed that figure and reach 100% in the face of 2050. Chris Busch is the Director of Environmental Initiatives of Apple and comments that they do not have “a clear line of vision of how to avoid these broadcasts today.” It seems that they have reached a point where the use of renewables is not enough and you have to move on to a new approach. “And that’s where nature comes to play a role,” says Busch. In 2021, Apple destination 200 million dollars to a fund to help in the creation of environmental and carbon elimination projects, something for which it promised additional 200 million dollars in 2023. During these last two years, different associations with the support of this member of the Big Tech have replanted more than 10,000 hectares in an area southwest of Brazil. The idea is to reconvert areas for grazing and livestock in forests that not only recover trees to capture CO₂, but also the return of local fauna such as rabbits and pumas to an ecosystem that had been very damaged by other types of activities. It is an effort part of a major program that seeks to restore almost 300,000 hectares of degraded land in Brazil, Uruguay and Chile. Apple is not only helping financially, but also at the technological level. And, obviously, this is not selfless. “What we intend is to generate financial performance as a investor in these projects,” says Busch. This yield will be in the form of lower payments for their CO₂ emissions and the manager also comments that the global objective is shared. “We have to reduce emissions as soon as possible, but also put an end to deforestation and increase carbon elimination to maintain within 1.5 degrees”He said. And this is not just about planting trees. The Cupertino are technologically supporting project monitoring, such as the measurement of the trees’s trunk diameter, but they are not the only ones. Google, goal or Microsoft have also created coalitions To plant trees and compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions, and companies that are not within that select group also have reforestation initiatives. It is not planting by planting Now, you have to be careful with the type of trees that are planted in these reforestation programs. And with other factors. In Fast Company they point to a controversy in this concrete reforestation because they are planting eucalyptus. They are trees with potential to evolve in punished terrain, such as ancient animals for animals, and grow rapidly absorbing large amounts of co₂. The problem is that reforestation reduces rainfall and eucalyptus, precisely, need water, so critics point out that these plantations will do will end underground water reserves. Also Questionable actions have been produced. In Pakistan, mass reforestation programs came into conflict with the practices of nomadic communities, something that has also occurred in places in China or Brazil itself. We must not go so far: in Europe we are reforesting huge areas with trees that are suitable for that reforestation, but that They may not reach 2100. The reason? They are species that or are not native or, even if they are planting without taking into account possible future pests or the effects of climate change. Research has also been carried out that the effectiveness of these projects is limited. As they comment on The Guardianmost of these projects do not generate real climatic benefits and there are areas that are being reforested in which there was no real risk of deforestation. The point by which some actions have been undertaken is due to the overestimation of the emissions avoided. And the study does not point to 10 or 20% of these reforestation actions, but 90% of them. As much as it may be, planting trees is positive whenever it is done with the head, but as Forrest Fleishman, an expert in mass plantation of trees, rather than planting trees, must be made. Images | Apple In Xataka | A study from satellite images has indicated the areas where the jungle could recover. Without human help

We thought we had solved the mystery of the giant “trees” of the Paleozoic. We couldn’t be more wrong

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More than a century ago, when the first known fossils of Prototaxitesintuition said that it should be the remains of a tree. Decades of study revealed to paleontologists that this fossil did not belong to a plant, so everything seemed to indicate that it was an immense fungus. Now a new study has reopened this unknown. Neither plant nor fungus. The study in question has revived the discussion About the nature and taxonomy of Prototaxitesprehistoric beings that so far the catalog scientific consensus as fungi. The involvement of “taking out” these beings from the evolutionary branch of fungi is that perhaps these beings belonged to an extinct and unknown branch of the tree of evolution. 400 million years ago. What we do know about Prototaxites For the fossil registry, it is that being trafficking with organisms that were alive towards the middle of the Paleozoic era, does Between 420 million and 375 million years. These beings had a more or less cylindrical structure, similar to a trunk and stood up to eight meters above the sky with a diameter that the subway could reach. These measures and their age make them one of the first large beings of those of which we have record in the fossil registry. The debate on the nature of these prehistoric living beings seemed to mid -2000s. It was then that an analysis revealed that the Prototaxites They did not obtain their carbon from photosynthesis, as is the case of plants, but obtained from other living organisms, as fungi do. Rhynie Chert. The new study that reopens the case It now contributes tests that this being did not belong to the kingdom of fungi and focuses on one of the known species of this genus, Taiti prototaxites. The team resorted to the fossils found at the Rhynie Chert site in Scotland. This site contains not only fossil remains of this species, but also of fungal species and others belonging to other kingdoms of nature. Similarities and differences. The new analysis of the fossils of this species ran into some similarities with fungal structures such as those that could be expected. However, despite having tubular internal structures similar to those of fungi, these tubes in P. Taiti They branched and linked in a different way from what they could expect. That was not, however the strangest detail. The analysis did not detect in fossils evidence of the products that are associated with the presence of chitina, a compound present in the cell walls of all contemporary fungi and that we know was also present in prehistoric fungi. They found that the chemical “firm” was more similar to that left behind by lignin, a polymer that we associate with vascular plants. The study has been published for now draft In the repository Biorxivso the standardized scrutiny of peer review has not yet passed. So what? This detail implies that we must extreme caution when drawing conclusions from the study we have in front. Even so, the signing team of the study outlines in this its conclusions, in principle preliminary. In his study, the team concludes that “the morphology and the molecular footprint of P. Taiti It is clearly different from that of fungi and other organisms preserved with it in Rhynie Chert, and we suggest that it is better considered a member of a group not described and totally extinct of eukaryotes. ” In Xataka | An amateur fossil search engine is behind a curious finding: vomiting of the dinosaurs era Image | Іщн

We knew that the olive trees were very old trees. What we did not imagine is that they arrived at 4,000 years of age

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The olive tree is undoubtedly one of the most iconic trees in the Mediterranean basin. The olive groves have populated the fields of southern Europe and the Levante since time immemorial, but such is the longevity of this species that the history of some of these trees also goes back, at least to antiquity. An example of this is the Vauves olivelocated on the Greek island of Crete. Conservative estimates throw this tree about 2,000 years. This would imply that in his life he could be a mute witness of events such as the division of the Roman Empire, the fall of Biscay and the Ottoman Empire and, of course, the birth of contemporary Greece. Broader estimates calculate that this tree could reach 4,000 years of age. This would not only do it contemporary of figures such as Pythagoras, Aristotle or Alexander the Great but also implied that this plant was born in the Crete Minoica and it was Witness of the collapse of the late bronze ageone of the most intriguing events that occurred at the dawn of history as and how we understand it. But perhaps the most surprising detail of all this is that the olive tree of Vouves continues to bear fruit. This has led many to wonder, how is it possible? What makes this specimen already its species in general so long? The olive tree (Olea Europea) has a life expectancy that, although it does not become ancient, does exceed several centuries. It is estimated that the life expectancy of the trees of this species Round the five centuriesalthough there is some debate about it. In this sense, A study published in 2021 In the magazine Dendrochronologyestimated that the majority of “monumental olive trees” had maximum ages that ranged between 300 and 500 years. Estimating the age of an olive tree is difficult. We indicated at the beginning that the estimates of the age of this millenary tree ranged between 2,000 and 4,000 years, a very wide fork precisely because of the difficulty that involves calculating the age of these trees. Dendrocronology is based on using the growth rings of tree trunks to estimate their age: how many rings, so many years. Counting rings in a carved copy is simple, but doing it in a living tree and doing it in an olive tree is already another song. The trunks of the olive trees grow irregularly, which implies a seemingly chaotic pattern in the rings inside, making the count especially difficult as pointed out A study published in 2013 In the magazine Plos One. His curious growth could be related to his longevity. According to Scott Travers, Biologist at Rutgers University, In an article for Forbesone of the “Secrets” behind longevity of these trees is in vegetative or clonal reproduction. That is, in the fact that this tree consists of various cuttings that start from the same root. This, adds Travers, allows this type of plants to survive extreme conditions, including similar fires, cuts and incidents. Another of the tricks for survival, Continue explaining traversIt is in the biochemistry of the tree, which offers mechanisms that allow repairing damaged tissues, as well as defending against pathogenic organisms. The same oil that humans take advantage of by the tree that gives us through its fruits. The elders of our environment Spain also has ancient olive trees, although we do want to find a tree that competes in age with the olive tree of vouves, we have to go to Portugal. It would be an olive tree located in Abrantesin the center of Portugal. According to a study conducted by the University of Trás-Montes and Alto Douro (Utad), Mouchão It would be the tree that would have this record with an age that would be around 3,350 years. Spain also has ancient olive trees and among all of them stands out The Arión Fargaa tree that we can find in the province of Tarragona. The estimated age of this olive tree is more than 1,700 years. This implies that this millenary tree would have been planted at the time of Emperor Constantine I. Olives are not the only millenary tree species in our environment. Cedros, Secuoyas and even Dragos Canarios can also reach ages that would pale the biblical matusalem. The olive trees are trees with a long life expectancy but do not usually fill the lists of the longest trees on the planet. The two longest -known non -cloned trees are two pines called Prometheus and Matusalemto which ages are estimated above 4,000 years. Both belong (or belonged in the case of Prometheus) to the species Pinus Longaevathe “long -lived pine” so it is not completely surprising this fact. When Prometheus was cut, the botanists who analyzed him told more than 4,800 rings, so he was estimated at an age of about 4,900 years. Estimates indicate that Matusalem has also surpassed for decades The 4800 -year -old brand. If we include clonal organisms we can find older trees. For example, the Pando forestconsidered the largest living organism on the planet, composed of thousands of cuttings of the same clonic tree, could have close to 80,000 years old According to some estimates. In Xataka | A retiree planted a tree in 2003 in one of the most dangerous areas of Sao Paulo. Today is an amazing “jungle” of the city Image | Eric Nagle, CC by-SA 4.0

The commercial war between the United States and China is having an unexpected victim: Christmas trees

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At the doors of Holy Week and with half a pending country, in Spain almost no one (Neither Abel Caballero) Think of Christmas. In China The thing is different. There the factories that are dedicated to manufacturing the ornaments and trees that decorate the US households every December should be receiving orders that do not just arrive. And in the industry there are little doubt what the reason is: the Commercial War raised 145% (If you take into account 20% applied by the export of fentanyl precursors) the rates to Chinese imports. What is less clear is … What will happen at Christmas? Where are the orders? That is the question that Chinese companies are being asked that are dedicated to manufacturing Christmas ornaments and trees. Yes, we are still in early April; but under normal conditions they should be receiving orders from their US clients. And it is not so. The news The Reuters agency advanced yesterday, which has spoken with the administrator of a Jinhua Christmas tree factory that has even seen how one of its partners on the other side of the Pacific suspended an order worth $ 400,000. And that the Chinese company has already invested $ 54,000 in materials. His great fear is now that the commission is annulled. “No request”. Jinhua is not an isolated case. Nor unique. Reuters He has spoken with other Chinese Christmas manufacturers that point in a similar direction. “We are concerned that US orders decrease,” explains the owner of another factory dedicated to Shaoxing Christmas decoration. The person responsible for a third company admits that at least the situation breaks with the experience of past years. “In mid -April all orders are usually finished, but now … it is difficult to know if any will come,” The manager tells from Jinhua. So far they have not registered “any request” from the US. And what is the cause? For China manufacturers there are few doubts. Or none. If 2025 is being an anomalous exercise for them is basically The commercial war unleashed on the other side of the ocean and that has been climbing. “Of course it is the tariffs,” assumes one of the entrepreneurs in the sector. After all, the tariff war may have intensified over the last days, after The act starring Trump in the Rosaleda de la Casa White with his already famous tariff table by countries and regions; But the word tariff (the favorite of the Republican) has been grabbing headlines for months. And one of the countries that He has always been In the focus is China, as was already happening in His first mandate. A figure: 145%. The result is that in the middle of April the Trump policy and the resurgence of the commercial war between Beijing and Washington (which has resulted in a mutual exchange of attacks and counterattacks tariffs) threatens to have an unexpected victim: Christmas. For now, Chinese merchandise to the US faces a tariff rise in the 125%percentage to which another 20% applied by the commercialization of fentanyl precursors. If we talk about Christmas ornament, USA and China maintain a more than prominent relationship. According to Reuters calculations 87% of the supply of American retailers dedicated to Christmas decoration comes from the factories of the Asian giant, which in turn half of their production to the US. “My colleagues and I depend on American orders to survive,” assumes Jessica Guo, administrator of a Christmas tree factory. Christmas decoration (and something else). At stake there is more than the Christmas ornament or that the US halls have more or less garlands, foams and artificial trees this year. That the sector goes well or badly translates into employment. And in millions of dollars. Two data arrives to get an idea. The merchandise acquired by American retailers in China reaches a value of 4,000 million of dollars. As for employment, only in Jinhua there is a factory of artificial trees of almost 11,000 m2 that normally uses 140 people, a template that can be elevated to 200 employees during the months of greater activity. Except for surprise, everything indicates that in 2025 it will not be necessary. Is there alternative? That is the other big question. And twice. Does China have an alternative market with which to compensate in a puncture of the American demand? And do the US companies have to the Asian giant to stock up on figurines and trees with lights? None will have it easy. In China, domestic demand for Christmas decoration is low and there are already businesses thinking about strengthening their efforts in Russia, Europe or Southeast Asia, which are an important part of the sales cake. Yet, days ago A local businessman shared with Reuters his “concern.” The situation in the US. The US can also look at other suppliers, but without getting rid of the elongated shadow of tariffs. Another country with some weight in the production of Christmas ornaments is Cambod 49% to imports from that country. From the sector they also question that manufacturing ends up moving to the US, as the Republican leader aspires. “There is no technology or labor market,” They recognize To the agency. Result: Ten months seen worries since those who want to decorate their houses face a price increase. Images | Frames for Your Heart (UNSPLASH), Gage Skidmore (Flickr) and Trong Khiem Nguyen (Flickr) In Xataka | In the middle of the largest commercial chaos, olive oil seems immune thanks to a factor: consumption in Spain

In Spain, cutting urban trees looks like national sport. These Swiss have just demonstrated that it is a mistake

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There is only a handful of things that we know for sure about cities and one of them is that trees are key. And it is that the exposure to green spaces (and there the trees enter) “is associated with lower risks of mortality.” It’s simple, it’s clear, it’s easy. And, despite this, we do not take note. Wait, wait a moment … how? Yes and There are many reasons To do this: trees filter air pollutants, provide shadow, reduce ambient temperature in warm climates and encourage people to spend more time outdoors. They are a cheap and relatively accessible system to improve people’s lives. But, as I say, when planting trees it is not so easy. Among other things because there is no space. How can we plant trees to get maximum benefit? That is what They wondered Zurich ETH researchers. To do this, they examined high resolution data of the tree canopy to determine “the structure of the green tree spaces” within a radius of 500 meters of the place of residence of a person. Of six million people, actually. AND They crossed this urban data with health and mortality information from the neighborhoods of Europe and Asia that analyzed. What have you discovered? That both tree coverage in residential areas and its spatial distribution correlates with mortality. In fact, researchers They realized that the risk of mortality was “significantly lower in people living in neighborhoods with extensive, adjacent and well -interconnected areas of tree cups than in people who live in areas with less areas of fragmented tree glasses and with complex geometries.” This seems true, in addition, if we discount other factors such as age, wealth, gender or educational level. It is true that the data are correlational and, therefore, do not allow to establish causal relationships; But the effect size makes all this very promising. But, indeed, research is needed. “We are still in the early stages of this research”, The researchers explained. There are very basic things that are there to be clear: for example, they did not study the influence of specific factors such as pre -existing diseases, smoking or the same use of these green spaces. A big problem … that affects us especially. And I say it affects Spain because Bad care that urban trees are given here is An endemic problem. The causes are diverse, yes; But they can be summarized in three: few media, mismanagement and isolated political decisions of any current technical knowledge. Swiss study is just the last drop of a glass to be overflowing. Because we have known for a long time that trees help reduce atmospheric pollutants and mitigate the Urban heat island effect; But we don’t take it seriously. Nor do we go to take it. Image | Vladimir Kudinov In Xataka | A centenary ficus has just died in Seville after two years of agony. It is the best example of how Spain is killing its urban trees

Some scientists wanted to count each and every one of the trees in China. Surprisingly, they have achieved it

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China is an immense country, the fourth country with greater extension in the world after Russia, Canada and the United States. The country has a wide variety of ecosystems, some of which house a countless amount of trees. Or almost countless. 142.6 million trees. A new study has estimated the total number of trees in China. The result of the count is 142.6 billion. This implies that the Asian giant has about 100 trees per inhabitant. More than a count. The study not only offers a mere count of the number of trees but also offers us valuable information about its location, density and characteristics of the different types of ecosystems that can be found in China. For example, the team found that the coniferous forests of the temperate areas were the densest in the country, reaching some 720 trees per hectare. The 87.9 billion trees that can be found in this type of environments represent about 60% of the country’s total. A country of contrasts. The forested areas of China are especially concentrated in the south and northeast of the country. The study also analyzed the tree density of the different Chinese hydrographic basins, as well as the different administrative divisions of the Asian country. In view of drone. For the study, the team He turned to Lidar technologyan analogue of the radar that replaces radio waves with light waves. These sensors were mounted in drones to cover 1,400 square kilometers of wooded territory. The result: 400TB of processed data. The methodology used is not exempt from limitations. In dense forest areas, the tree canopy, the upper part of these trees, can overshadow the lidar view, causing smaller trees to be hidden from counting. That is why those responsible for the study believe that this is a conservative estimate of the number of trees in the country’s forests. The details of the study were published In an article In the magazine Science Bulletin. Protection plans The project will serve to evaluate Chinese environmental conservation plans. Something easy taking into account the magnitude of plans such as “Great green wall” wave “Billion Tree campaign” In Xataka | Leonardo Da Vinci established “The Tree rule” 500 years ago. Now we have discovered that he was wrong Image | Tom Fisk

In their search to make the increasingly productive olive trees, these researchers have had an idea: to throw coal

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The jungle floor is between reddish or yellowish; He is sterile and ungrateful, blinding and distemper. It is plagued with mineral oxides or empty of calcareous materials. It is and has always been a bad ground. Therefore, when in the middle of the Amazon, the settlers met the ‘Terra Petra‘They couldn’t believe it. It was a black, tremendously fertile land, incredibly resistant to the decomposition of organic matter. For decades, nobody knew where he had been able to leave. A dark enigma for a bright future. Some said that the Andes volcanoes could have come, others suggested that they should be a product of sedimentation of the tertiary lakes. But, When analyzing they realized that they were truffled with ceramic remains, fish swords, jewelry and human objects. The miracle of the ‘Terra Preta’ was the miracle of huge agricultural communities mixing land, vegetable coal, organic material of all kinds and favoring the growth of an own ecosystem within them. Charcoal? Indeed. That same face The researchers stayed. The jungle peoples often use a burning system to create fertile soils. The problem is that they lose fertility quickly. With the ‘Terra Preta’ it does not happen and the secret is in that coal. What in jargon is known as ‘biochar’. And that is really working? That is what The European Soil O-Live project has been askedif the olive trees could treat with a mixture of biochar and compost. The result is what brings us here: what Yes it works. According to researchers at the University of Jaén, coal treatment increases oil production between 7 and 24%. That is, between 0.4 and 1.7 kilos of oil per olive tree. It is true that it is a preliminary investigation, but without a very promising place. And what do we want it for? That is, without this type of “treatments” Spain is already the place of the world where more oil occurs and not for: grows 15% per year. The problem is that the machine cannot stop because demand It grows even more. Where will this race take us, that voracity? That is one of the great questions of the century. Image | KEVIN MARTIN JOSE | Wander Fleur Image | In full climate crisis, a United States startup proposes an millenary technology of the Amazon: Capture CO2 on the ground

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