We destroyed 99% of one of the best carbon-storing, wildfire-resistant ecosystems on Earth, and most of us don't even realize it's gone.
Tallgrass prairie once covered huge parts of North America. Today, almost all of it is gone, mostly converted to farms, roads, towns, and development.
Prairie does something forests can't do as reliably: it hides most of its carbon underground. Native prairie plants can send roots 10 to 15 feet deep. When fire burns across the surface, the plants come back. The carbon-rich root systems and soil remain.
A forest stores much of its carbon in trunks and branches. A prairie stores much of it where fire, drought, pests, and storms have a harder time taking it back.
That is why grasslands can be such powerful climate infrastructure. They hold soil, absorb water, reduce erosion, feed pollinators, support birds, and store carbon below our feet.
And we replaced almost all of the richest prairie with crops in roughly a century.
What would happen if we brought back even just 10% of what we lost?
On the NFL schedule release:
People do realize we've known every team's opponents for months?
This is just unpacking the boxes that were delivered in January.
But alas, the NFL could sell paint drying..