A Massachusetts dairy farmer nearly sold an unfarmable slice of his land to Walmart, but put an 11-acre solar field there instead; the lease paid $1,000 a week while rooftop panels erased a $1,400 monthly power bill

A Massachusetts dairy farmer nearly sold an unfarmable slice of his land to Walmart, but put an 11-acre solar field there instead; the lease paid $1,000 a week while rooftop panels erased a $1,400 monthly power bill

A Massachusetts dairy farmer once considered selling an awkward, hard-to-farm patch of his property to Walmart. Instead, he turned the 11-acre slice into a solar field that now provides a steady lease income, while rooftop panels have nearly wiped out the farm’s $1,400 monthly electricity bill. The story was told by John Nagy in Notre … Read more

A former fuel-tank farm beside an Alaska national park visitor center has been erased; a young conservation crew restored 15,000 square yards of landscape and built 500 feet of new trail

A former fuel-tank farm beside an Alaska national park visitor center has been erased; a young conservation crew restored 15,000 square yards of landscape and built 500 feet of new trail

The project also created about 500 feet of new pedestrian trail, connecting the visitor center with the Lakeview Tinitun trail and the broader trail network. What was once a utilitarian patch of ground beside an Alaska visitor center is now becoming part of the landscape again. At Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, a young … Read more

Scientists warmed Minnesota forest trees by 3.4°C for years expecting respiration to surge 23%; the trees adapted and erased nearly 80% of that increase

Scientists warmed Minnesota forest trees by 3.4°C for years expecting respiration to surge 23%; the trees adapted and erased nearly 80% of that increase

The open-air study was designed to mimic future warming while maintaining natural outdoor conditions. Researchers established plots in both open and closed-canopy forest environments and planted seedlings representing 11 tree species. In a Minnesota forest, researchers turned up the heat, not for days or weeks, but for years. Beneath the trees, heating cables warmed the … Read more