Jack

[Anish Moonka @anishmoonka]

There's a forest in Utah where every single tree is actually the same tree. 47,000 trunks growing out of one giant root system, all clones of the same parent. The whole thing weighs about 13 million pounds, around 40 blue whales worth. It's called Pando, and it's been alive for around 80,000 years. Humans hadn't even started painting in caves yet when this thing took root. It's the heaviest living thing on Earth.

Trees do some properly weird stuff. When a giraffe starts eating an acacia tree in Africa, the tree releases a warning smell into the air within minutes. Other acacia trees nearby pick up that smell and immediately start pumping bitter chemicals into their own leaves, before the giraffe even gets there. Giraffes have actually figured this out and learned to walk upwind, so they can get a few bites in before the trees notice them.

In 1997, a Canadian scientist named Suzanne Simard found that trees in a forest are connected to each other underground, through a giant web of tiny fungus threads that link them all together. Her experiments showed that one tree can send food and chemical messages to another tree through this fungus network. The press nicknamed it "the wood wide web." Some of the bigger claims about trees being one happy family are still being argued over by scientists, but the basic idea, that trees pass signals to each other underground, is now solid science.

And some live for thousands of years. There's a tree in California called Methuselah, a kind of pine, that is almost 4,860 years old. It was already 200 years old when the first Egyptian pyramid was built. There's another one growing nearby that scientists think is over 5,000 years old. Both were already ancient when Stonehenge went up.

Trees also do something to your body when you're around them. A Japanese researcher named Qing Li ran an experiment. He had people spend a few days walking in forests, then took their blood. The cells in their immune system that fight off viruses and tumors had jumped sharply, and the boost lasted for over a week after they got home. He had another group take the same kind of trip but to a city instead. They got nothing. The trees were releasing some kind of compound into the air that the city didn't have.

The tallest tree in the world is in California too, a coast redwood named Hyperion. 381 feet tall (taller than the Statue of Liberty), around 700 years old. A single trunk holds 550 million leaves. You're sharing the planet with all of this.

[Sarah Ellison @sgellison]

John Harbaugh on when he learned about Justin Tucker: "I learned after Eric [DeCosta] told me. I think right before it came out. Maybe The Banner had called Eric and told him that there was something coming out. We didn't know anything about what it was going to be, so I knew what it was when I read it.

"And then, a week and half, two weeks after that, I called Justin on a Sunday morning. We had a conversation about it. We talked about it - more from a perspective of being together for all these years and kind of what he was going through and what he was dealing with with that, and how he was handling it with his family. That's really what we talked about."

[Jack @J_Boland2]

@hardestgeezer You should stop at the eye of the Sahara if it’s not too dangerous . Would do wonders for the algorithm I bet ;) keep stomping bro 🙌🏼

[Jack @J_Boland2]

@hardestgeezer Keep it up Russ! Step by step, body will catch up with the mind in no time 🫡

[Michael Thomas @curious_founder]

Scientists from around the world worked on the latest IPCC report for almost a decade.

But according to leaked documents, many of their recommendations were removed or altered significantly.

🧵

[Jamie Rohu 🌍 @JamieRohu]

Truth bombs by @IrishRainforest brings the absolute house down at the @CitizAssembly #CABioLoss 🌳🌱PART 1/2

[GO GREEN @ECOWARRIORSS]

Monstrous
Large-scale deep-sea mining in Pacific 1.7 million square miles, with depths ranging between 11,500 and 21,500 feet,will permanently destroy countless seabed ecosystems and marine life and disturb a vital carbon sink fueling even more warming .https://t.co/vtlG8c3ktc

[Tansu Yegen @TansuYegen]

Great tips for plant cultivation; via DeMilked🍌🍋🍊🌱

[RTÉ Prime Time @RTE_PrimeTime]

"An indulgence we cannot afford."

@GeorgeMonbiot tells @MiriamOCal that we must end our dependence on farming if we are to overcome the realities of climate change.

#rtept

[Risk Expert tells the Truth about Climate @MarkCranfield_]

Very strong interview.

[Jack @J_Boland2]

@ForeignPolicy @gavinjdaly In the age of AI and robots, it shouldn’t be inconceivable to extract metals in a way that protects the seabed and allows us to discover what actually is down there. Instead, International Seabed Authority is overseen by the same type of people who are exploiting the Congo

[Jack @J_Boland2]

@ForeignPolicy @gavinjdaly Huge amount of cobalt in the deep seabed, and quite easy to extract. Should be extracted with minimum footprint yet Lockheed Martin and others are developing huge excavators, under the jurisdiction of the UN no less, to wreck the unexplored seabed for quick profits

[Jack @J_Boland2]

@JackiePaper12 @ClimateHuman In my own personal experience, desperate measures have only brought me further away from what I wanted in the first place. IMO we need concise, pointed interventions that deal primarily with the source of these desperate times. Don’t understand why it isn’t recognised by the pros

[Jack @J_Boland2]

@ByHedge Should be embracing permaculture. A joke to reference the citizens assembly when the one on climate change has barely been scratched by the current government. Money talks and bullshit takes the bus

[The Ocean Cleanup @TheOceanCleanup]

BREAKING: we are now testing our Interceptor Trashfence in Guatemala's Rio Motagua Basin home to what we believe to be the world's most polluting river.

[Mhairi Black 🏳️‍🌈 @MhairiBlack]

It is vital we discuss the F word or we risk facing regret forever.

[Khadija @khadljasays]

Everyone switch on to Al Jazeera right now. This is one of the most horrifying things I’ve seen.

IOF is attacking mourners carrying Shireen’s body from the hospital right now. They’re using stun grenades and tear gas and charging at them with horses and batons.

[Steven Donziger @SDonziger]

Just got a call from the halfway house at 5:20 am saying an "alert" indicated I had left home. Was sleeping in my bed. I expected this.

3 hours to go. 993 days down. Stay with me. 👊❤️

[Steven Donziger @SDonziger]

BREAKING: It's over. Just left with release papers in hand. Completely unjust that I spent even 1 day in this Kafkaesque situation.

Not looking back. Onward.👊❤️