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Grandparents found hugging after being killed by fallen tree

Marcia Savage, 74, and Jerry Savage, 78, had already turned in for the night as Hurricane Helene roared outside. Their 22-year-old grandson, John Savage, had checked in on them to make sure they were fine after he heard a snap. “We heard one snap and I remember going back there and checking on them. They were both fine, the dog was fine." he recalled. But not long after disaster struck and John and his father heard a "boom" as one of the largest trees on their property in Beech Island, South Carolina came crashing down on top of his grandparents' bedroom, killing them. “All you could see was ceiling and tree,” he said. “I was just going through sheer panic at that point.” John said his grandparents were found hugging one another in the bed, in what he described as a final heroic act from Jerry who tried to protect his wife. “When they pulled them out of there, my grandpa apparently heard the tree snap beforehand and rolled over to try to protect my grandmother,” he said. Jerry did all sorts of handy work but worked mostly as an electrician and carpenter. Jerry went “in and out of retirement because he got bored”. “He’d get that spirit back in him to go back out and work," his grandson said. Marcia was a retired bank teller who was very involved in their church. Their daughter Tammy Estep said Marcia loved cooking for her family, especially for Thanksgiving, and was known for her banana pudding. The couple were high school sweethearts and were married for more than 50 years, with Tammy recalling that "their love was immediate, and it was everlasting”. “They loved each other to their dying day,” John said. The couple are among more than 150 people confirmed dead in one of the deadliest storms in US history. A GoFundMe organised for their funeral expenses says that they were survived by their son and daughter, along with their four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Images: Facebook

Caring

"So Australian": Local trust praised for response to illegal tree cutting

A resident's decision to cut down a tree for a better view of Sydney Harbour has backfired after a sign was erected where the tree once stood, to condemn tree vandalism. Following multiple reports of resident carrying out tree vandalism along affluent streets, the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust has called out the behaviour by setting up the sign in the Sydney lower North Shore suburb of Woolwich. "Tree vandalism has occurred in this area," the sign read. "The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust protects and manages this land for the enjoyment of the public. "Acts of vandalism like this deprive all of us of the natural environment." The sign also warned that offenders could be subject to fines and/or prosecution as punishment, and urged those who notice any suspicious activity to contact 8969 2100. After an image of the sign was shared to a Sydney group on social media, the local trust's actions have been praised, with many saying they "loved how petty this is" and one even declaring the response "so Australian". "I hope they keep this sign, as a reminder to anyone contemplating doing something similar," one commented. "We're petty but we have a right to be. You don't f**n poison or cut down trees. F**n unacceptable behaviour," another added. Others accused the person who cut down the tree of being "entitled". In last November alone, over 300 native trees and shrubs vanished in front of multi-million dollar homes along the Sydney Harbour waterfront strip. Lane Cove Council believe that hand tools were used to silently cut down the trees, which impacts plants, and local wildlife including wallabies, possums and dozens of other species. On Monday, the council put out a statement saying its "pursuit of justice" is now ramping up, referring to the incident as "the largest tree vandalism case in Lane Cove’s recent history". They are trying to obtain permission to put up a sign to block "the harbour view of the property which would most benefit from the mass clearing of the trees." "As the area is classified as a Threatened Ecological Community and contains some items of Aboriginal Heritage, it was important the appropriate approvals were in place before installing the signage," the council added. "The legal case and banner installation are important steps in our commitment to seeking the strongest possible recourse response to send a message that we stand tall against tree vandalism." Images: Reddit

Legal

Two men charged over felling of iconic Sycamore Gap tree

Two men have been charged with cutting down the iconic Sycamore Gap tree in northern England. Daniel Graham, 38, and Adam Carruthers, 31, were charged with causing criminal damage to the tree and damaging Hadrian’s Wall, which was built by Emperor Hadrian in AD 122 to guard the north-west frontier of the Roman Empire. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) added that they will appear in the Newcastle Magistrates Court on May 15. “There has been an ongoing investigation since the Sycamore Gap tree was cut down," said Detective Chief Inspector Rebecca Fenney, the Senior Investigation Officer on the case. “As a result of those inquiries, two men have now been charged. “We recognise the strength of feeling in the local community and further afield the felling has caused, however we would remind people to avoid speculation, including online, which could impact the ongoing case.” According to The Sun, the two men were arrested back in October and released on bail. The iconic tree became internationally famous when it was used for a scene in Kevin Costner's 1991 blockbuster film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The felling caused widespread <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/finance/legal/you-can-t-forgive-that-teen-arrested-after-felling-of-iconic-200-year-old-tree" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outrage</a> at the time, as police tried to find the culprit behind the "deliberate" act of vandalism. Efforts are currently underway to see if the tree can be regrown from the sycamore's stump, with The National Trust hoping that a third of the seeds and cuttings it collected from the tree could be planted later on. Image: Getty

Travel Trouble

Tiny ancient Christmas tree sells for thousands

One of the world's first mass-produced Christmas trees has sold at auction for a whopping 56 times higher than its original purchase price. The tree was first bought in 1920 for just six pence, and was snapped up at the auction in England by an anonymous buyer for £3,400, or $6,433 AUD. The tree was described by the auctioneer as “the humblest Christmas tree in the world”, measuring just 79cm in height, boasting 25 branches, 12 berries and six mini candle holders. The tree sits in a small, red-painted wooden base with a simple decorative emblem. The Christmas tree was first bought by the family of eight-year-old Dorothy Grant in 1920, with Dorothy using it as her tree until she passed away at the age of 101. The tree is believed to have been bought from Woolworths, with Grant decorating the tree as a child with cotton wool to mimic snow, given that baubles were considered a luxury at the time. After Grant's passing in 2014, the charming tree was passed down to her daughter Shirley Hall, who was "parting with the tree now to honour her mother's memory and to ensure it survives as a humble reminder of 1920s life". It was expected to sell for between £60 and £80 (between $110 and $150 AUD) but was bought for the astonishing price of £3,411 when it went under the hammer at Hansons auctioneers on Friday. Charles Hanson, the owner of Hansons and a regular guest on the BBC’s Bargain Hunt said, “This is one of the earliest Christmas trees of its type we have seen. The humblest Christmas tree in the world has a new home and we’re delighted for both buyer and seller … I think it’s down to the power of nostalgia. Dorothy’s story resonated with people.” He added, “As simple as it was, Dorothy loved that tree. It became a staple part of family celebrations for decades. The fact that it brought such joy to Dorothy is humbling in itself. It reminds us that extravagance and excess are not required to capture the spirit of Christmas. For Dorothy it was enough to have a tree." “Some of the first artificial Christmas trees utilised machinery which had been designed to manufacture toilet brushes. The waste-not, want-not generations of old are still teaching us an important lesson about valuing the simple things and not replacing objects just for the sake of it." Image credits: Hansons Auctioneers

Money & Banking

"Each bauble represents a life lost": Haunting Christmas tree sends powerful message

As the holiday season approaches, a haunting symbol of despair has once again taken root at Victoria Police headquarters – carrying with it a message of melancholy that we are unaccustomed to at this normally festive time of year. Instead of joyous ornaments and twinkling lights, a Christmas tree adorned with glistening blue baubles now stands as a remarkably poignant testament to the road death carnage that has befallen the state throughout 2023. These beautiful baubles, each etched with the name and age of those lost on Victoria's roads this year, tell a grim tale of grief and loss. With the toll reaching 274 by December 6, it marks the darkest year for the state since 2008. In a moving video accompanying the dressing of the tree, Road Policing Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir implored the public to drive cautiously during the Christmas period, desperately hoping to prevent the addition of any more baubles to this sorrowful tree. "This Christmas tree is unlike any other; it's one we don't want to see decorated," Commissioner Weir soberly explained. "Each bauble represents a life lost, a stark reminder of the importance of road safety. Please, drive safely this festive period. Take care, have conversations with your loved ones, and remember the responsibility you bear when behind the wheel." November alone witnessed the loss of 35 lives on Victorian roads, marking it as the worst month this year. In response, the police are intensifying road policing operations throughout December in an attempt to curb further tragedies. In a bid to address the escalating death toll, the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) has launched the initiative "Stop kidding yourself. If you drink, don't drive," running from December 4 to the end of January. Shockingly, it has also been revealed that one in five individuals killed on Victorian roads had a blood alcohol concentration of .05 or higher. TAC CEO Tracey Slatter also called on the urgent need for a cultural shift, challenging the notion that driving after consuming any amount of alcohol should be deemed "normal". "Many people think they can manage their blood-alcohol level with vague rules handed down through generations," she said. "But the only way to avoid the risk entirely is to completely separate drinking and driving." As the Christmas tree of remembrance continues to grow with each passing day, it stands as a poignant symbol of the lives lost on Victoria's roads, imploring society to reflect, change and prioritise the safety of every journey. Images: Victoria Police

Travel Trouble

"What an embarrassing effort”: Locals furious over "pathetic" Christmas tree

Locals in the coastal NSW town of Forster are furious over a "pathetic" Christmas tree that was decorated by the council. In an attempt to spread Christmas cheer, the local council haphazardly threw lights over a huge Christmas tree in the middle of town, prompting outrage from the community. One local posted a photo of the tree to Facebook, insinuating the tree looks like it was decorated by "Mr Squiggle", while tagging the council in the post to ensure they saw the complaint. “This is absolutely pathetic, what an embarrassing effort,” they wrote. “Not that I expect anything less from our council, but this needs to stop. Keep in mind before reading — the Mr. Squiggle effort took three days to complete." “There is nothing that screams neglect and lack of interest more than an unthoughtful, rushed, ugly, non-Christmassy, rope light installation on arguably one of the most noticeable trees in the entire Forster-Tuncurry." The poster then compared a Christmas tree from another year with the recent one, and asked whether this is the best that the council could create. “Is that really the best the creative minds at the council can come up with? A bit of rope light dangling out of a tree?” they asked. Other locals flocked to the post and agreed with the sentiment, sharing their disappointment in the Christmas tree. “It honestly would have been better off not being done at all … it’s a hideous mess,” wrote one. “Our beautiful paradise deserves a lot more so ugly such a disaster effort,” a local wrote. “How embarrassing for the town.” The local council caught wind of the disappointment from locals and posted a response to the matter on its website a day later. It said its staff were not “professional tree decorators” and pointed out that this “comes at a cost”. “MidCoast Council is aware of the community comment on social media on the Christmas decorations installed on an iconic tree in Forster,” the statement read. “Council’s Director of Liveable Communities, Paul De Szell, said that while the lighting might not be appreciated by some in the community, even the small amount of decorating comes at a cost." The council then said that in years to come, locals will be able to have their say for the town's Christmas decorations, with the website stating, "Some sections of the community appear to be very passionate about the lighting and this will give them the opportunity to be involved in the decisions around it." “Providing Christmas lighting is not a core service of Council, or something we have expert skills in, hence the decision to allow the community the opportunity to take ownership of the lighting going forward.” Image credits: Facebook

Travel Trouble

"She saw it and dodged it": Incredible scenes as tree plunges through seat in Schoolies crash

In a harrowing incident on K'Gari, formerly known as Fraser Island, a group of teenage girls narrowly escaped a potentially tragic accident during their Schoolies celebration. The friends were exploring the picturesque island off the Queensland coast when a tree crashed through the windscreen of their car, plunging right through the headrest of the passenger seat. Miraculously, all occupants emerged unscathed from this near-miss, thanks to a combination of quick reflexes and the timely intervention of volunteers from the Fraser Coast Red Frogs. As the teens ventured through the island's terrain, their joyous celebration took a terrifying turn when a massive tree limb plummeted onto their vehicle. The impact shattered the glass directly in front of the passenger seat, creating a scene of devastation that could have resulted in serious injuries – or worse. Astonishingly, one of the girls was seated in the passenger seat at the time, and her quick thinking and agility allowed her to dodge the falling debris, narrowly avoiding a potentially life-threatening situation. Tim Winnington, the Fraser Coast Red Frogs coordinator, described the fortuitous nature of the escape, saying, "There was a girl actually sitting in the passenger seat. She saw it and dodged it. They were so lucky not to get injured." The Red Frogs, a charity organisation that provides support and education at events like Schoolies and music festivals, played a crucial role in the aftermath of the incident, with volunteers from the organisation waiting with the shaken teenagers until help arrived. Madhill Motor Group, the generous donor of the ute used by the Red Frogs team, highlighted the gravity of the situation with photos shared on Facebook to demonstrate just how close the call was. The teenagers, treated for shock by paramedics, were fortunate to walk away physically unharmed, a fact not lost on them or their friends. In the aftermath of the incident, a friend of the girls expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Red Frogs for their swift and effective response. “They were all so lucky to walk away with no one being injured, and very lucky the Red Frogs were on scene so quickly and helped them so much, getting them a room to stay, driving their car for them, cleaning up all the glass and calming them all down in this traumatic experience,” they wrote. “We are all extremely grateful that you were there.” Images: Facebook

Travel Trouble

Streets of purple haze: how the South American jacaranda became a symbol of Australian spring

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/susan-k-martin-107846">Susan K Martin</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/la-trobe-university-842">La Trobe University</a> Jacaranda season is beginning across Australia as an explosion of vivid blue spreads in a wave from north to south. We think of jacarandas as a signature tree of various Australian cities. Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth all feature avenues of them. Grafton in New South Wales hosts an annual <a href="https://www.jacarandafestival.com/">jacaranda festival</a>. Herberton in Queensland is noted for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jacarandafestivalherberton/">its seasonal show</a>. There are significant plantings in many botanic, public and university gardens across Australia. Jacaranda mimosifolia (the most common species in Australia) doesn’t generally flower in Darwin, and Hobart is a little cold for it. So showy and ubiquitous, jacarandas can be mistaken for natives, but they originate in South America. The imperial plant-exchange networks of the 19th century introduced them to Australia. But how did these purple trees find their stronghold in our suburbs? <h2>Propagating the trees</h2> Botanist Alan Cunningham sent the first jacaranda specimens from <a href="https://mhnsw.au/stories/general/dream-tree-jacaranda-sydney-icon/">Rio to Britain’s Kew gardens</a> around 1818. Possibly, jacaranda trees arrived from Kew in colonial Australia. Alternately, Cunningham may have disseminated the tree in his later postings in Australia or through plant and seed exchanges. Jacarandas are a widespread imperial introduction and are now a feature of many temperate former colonies. The jacaranda was exported by the British from Kew, by other colonial powers (Portugal for example) and directly from South America to various colonies. Jacarandas grow from seed quite readily, but the often preferred mode of plant propagation in the 19th century was through cuttings because of sometimes <a href="https://mhnsw.au/stories/general/dream-tree-jacaranda-sydney-icon/">unreliable seed</a> and <a href="https://academic.oup.com/histres/article/93/262/715/5938031?login=true">volume of results</a>. Cuttings are less feasible for the jacaranda, so the tree was admired but rare in Australia until either nurseryman Michael Guilfoyle or gardener George Mortimer succeeded in propagating the tree in 1868. Once the trees could be easily propagated, <a href="https://www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au/library/local_history/woollahra_plaque_scheme/plaques/michael_guilfoyle">jacarandas became more widely available</a> and they began their spread through Australian suburbs. <h2>A colonial import</h2> Brisbane claims the earliest jacaranda tree in Australia, <a href="https://blog.qagoma.qld.gov.au/godfrey-rivers-under-the-jacaranda-a-quintessential-image-of-brisbane-queensland/">planted in 1864</a>, but the Sydney Botanic Garden jacaranda is dated at “around” 1850, and jacarandas were listed for sale in <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13055858?searchTerm=Jacaranda%20OR%20Jakaranda">Sydney in 1861</a>. These early park and garden plantings were eye-catching – but the real impact and popularity of jacarandas is a result of later street plantings. Jacaranda avenues, in Australia and around the world, usually indicate wealthier suburbs like Dunkeld in <a href="https://www.wisemove.co.za/post/top-10-richest-suburbs-in-johannesburg">Johannesberg</a> and Kilimani in <a href="https://gay.medium.com/hashtag-jacaranda-propaganda-2f20ac6958b9">Nairobi</a>. In Australia, these extravagant displays appear in older, genteel suburbs like Subiaco and Applecross in Perth; Kirribilli, Paddington and Lavender Bay in Sydney; Parkville and the Edinburgh Gardens in North Fitzroy in Melbourne; Mitcham, Frewville and Westbourne Park in Adelaide; and St Lucia in Brisbane. The trend toward urban street avenue plantings expanded internationally in the <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.2307/3983816?journalCode=foreconshist">mid 19th century</a>. It was particularly popular in growing colonial towns and cities. It followed trends in imperial centres, but new colonial cities offered scope for <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/whp/eh/2009/00000015/00000003/art00004">concerted planning of avenues in new streets</a>. Early Australian streets were often host to a mix of native plants and exotic imported trees. Joseph Maiden, director of the Sydney Botanic Gardens from 1896, drove the move from mixed street plantings towards avenues of single-species trees in the early 20th century. Maiden selected trees suitable to their proposed area, but he was also driven by contemporary aesthetic ideas of <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/whp/eh/2009/00000015/00000003/art00004">uniformity and display</a>. By the end of the 19th century, deciduous trees were becoming more popular as tree plantings for their variety and, in southern areas, for the openness to winter sunshine. It takes around ten years for jacaranda trees to become established. Newly planted jacarandas take between two and 14 years to produce their first flowers, so there was foresight in planning to achieve the streets we have today. In Melbourne, jacarandas were popular in post-first world war plantings. They were displaced by a move to native trees after the second world war. Despite localised popularity in certain suburbs, the jacaranda does not make the list of top 50 tree plantings for <a href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/220356756/714CC7FF6134038PQ/6?accountid=12001">Melbourne</a>. In Queensland, 19th-century street tree planting was particularly ad hoc – the <a href="https://apps.des.qld.gov.au/heritage-register/detail/?id=602440">Eagle Street fig trees</a> are an example – and offset by enthusiastic forest clearance. It wasn’t until the early 20th century street beautification became more organised and jacaranda avenues were planted in areas like New Farm in Brisbane. The popular plantings on the St Lucia campus of the University of Queensland occurred later, in the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/queensland-review/article/abs/for-shade-colour-and-in-memory-of-sacrifice-amenity-and-memorial-tree-planting-in-queenslands-towns-and-cities-191555/459CD1E02E7FD581B4B89ADD7073D705">1930s</a>. <h2>A flower for luck</h2> In Australia, as elsewhere, there can be too much of a good thing. Jacarandas are an invasive species <a href="https://weeds.brisbane.qld.gov.au/weeds/jacaranda">in parts of Australia</a> (they seed readily in the warm dry climates to which they have been introduced). Parts of South Africa have limited or banned the planting of jacarandas because of their water demands and <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0006-82412017000200020">invasive tendencies</a>. Ironically, eucalypts have a similar status in South Africa. Writer <a href="https://gay.medium.com/hashtag-jacaranda-propaganda-2f20ac6958b9">Carey Baraka argues</a> that, however beloved and iconic now, significant plantings of jacarandas in Kenya indicate areas of past and present white population and colonial domination. Despite these drawbacks, spectacular jacaranda plantings remain popular where they have been introduced. There are even myths about them that cross international boundaries. In the southern hemisphere – in Pretoria or Sydney – they bloom on university campuses during examination time: the first blooms mark the time to study; the fall of blooms suggests it is <a href="https://mhnsw.au/stories/general/dream-tree-jacaranda-sydney-icon/">too late</a>; and the fall of a blossom on a student bestows <a href="https://newcontree.org.za/index.php/nc/article/view/34">good luck</a>.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214075/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/susan-k-martin-107846">Susan K Martin</a>, Emeritus Professor in English, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/la-trobe-university-842">La Trobe University</a> Image credits: Shutterstock This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/streets-of-purple-haze-how-the-south-american-jacaranda-became-a-symbol-of-australian-spring-214075">original article</a>.

Home & Garden

It wasn’t just a tree: why it feels so bad to lose the iconic Sycamore Gap tree and others like it

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rebecca-banham-830381">Rebecca Banham</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a> The famous <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/finance/legal/you-can-t-forgive-that-teen-arrested-after-felling-of-iconic-200-year-old-tree" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sycamore Gap tree</a> was felled last week, prompting global expressions of sorrow, anger and horror. For some, the reaction was puzzling. Wasn’t it just a single tree in northern England? But for many, the tree felt profoundly important. Its loss felt like a form of grief. Trees tell us something important about ourselves and who we are in the world. That is, they contribute to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23251042.2020.1717098">ontological security</a> – our sense of trust that the world and our selves are stable and predictable. Trees – especially those celebrated like England’s sycamore or Tasmania’s 350-year-old El Grande mountain ash – feel like they are stable and unchanging in a world where change is constant. Their loss can destabilise us. <h2>What makes a tree iconic?</h2> Individual trees can become important to us for many reasons. When the wandering ascetic Siddhartha Gautama sat at the foot of a sacred fig around 500 BCE, he achieved the enlightenment which would, a few centuries later, lead to his fame as the Buddha. This sacred fig would become known as the Bodhi Tree. One of its descendants <a href="https://www.britannica.com/plant/Bo-tree">attracts millions</a> of pilgrims every year. Sometimes a tree becomes iconic because of its association with pop culture. U2’s hit 1987 album The Joshua Tree has inspired fans to seek out the tree on the cover in the United States’ arid southwest – <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/u2s-the-joshua-tree-10-things-you-didnt-know-106885/">a potentially dangerous trip</a>. Other trees become famous because they’re exceptional in some way. The location of the world’s tallest tree – a 115-metre high redwood known as Hyperion – is <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-worlds-tallest-tree-is-officially-off-limits-180980509/">kept secret for its protection</a>. Niger’s Tree of Ténéré was known as the world’s most isolated, eking out an existence in the Sahara before the lonely acacia was accidentally knocked down by a truck driver in 1973. Its site is <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/last-tree-tenere">marked by a sculpture</a>. In 2003, the mountain ash known as El Grande – then the world’s largest flowering plant – was accidentally killed in a burn conducted by Forestry Tasmania. The death of the enormous tree – 87 metres tall, with a 19 metre girth – drew <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/3945157">“national and international”</a> media attention. This year, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-14/vandalism-sacred-birthing-tree-buangor-police-investigate/102726014">vandals damaged</a> a birthing tree sacred to the local Djab Wurrung people amidst conflicts about proposed road works in western Victoria. And in 2006, someone poisoned Queensland’s Tree of Knowledge – a 200-year-old ghost gum <a href="https://www.australiantraveller.com/qld/outback-qld/longreach/tree-of-knowledge-is-dead/">famous for its connection</a> to the birth of trade unionism in Australia. Under its limbs, shearers organised and marched for better conditions. The dead tree has been preserved in a memorial. <h2>What is it to lose a tree?</h2> Sociologist Anthony Giddens defines ontological security as a <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Modernity_and_Self_Identity.html?id=Jujn_YrD6DsC&redir_esc=y">“sense of continuity and order in events”</a>. To sustain it, we seek out feelings of safety, trust, and reassurance by engaging with comfortable and familiar objects, beings and people around us – especially those important to our self-identity. When there is an abrupt change, it challenges us. If your favourite tree in your street or garden dies, you mourn it – and what it gave you. But we mourn at a distance too – the Sycamore Gap tree was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/gallery/2023/sep/28/hadrians-wall-sycamore-gap-tree-in-pictures">world-famous</a>, even if you never saw it in real life. In <a href="https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/Seeing_the_forest_for_the_trees_ontological_security_and_experiences_of_Tasmanian_forests/23238422">my research</a>, I have explored how Tasmanian forests – including iconic landscapes and individual trees – can give us that sense of security we all seek in ourselves. As one interviewee, Leon, told me: <blockquote> These places should be left alone, because in 10,000 years they could still be there. Obviously I won’t be, we won’t be, but perhaps [the forest will be]. </blockquote> Temporality matters here. That is, we know what to expect by looking to the past and imagining what the future could be. Trees – especially ancient ones – act as a living link between the past, present, and future. As my interviewee Catherine said: <blockquote> You lie under an old myrtle and you just go, ‘wow - so what have you seen in your lifetime?’ Shitloads more than me. </blockquote> That’s why the loss of the Sycamore Gap tree has upset seemingly the entire United Kingdom. The tree was famous for its appearance: a solitary tree in a <a href="https://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/places-to-visit/hadrians-wall/sycamore-gap/">photogenic dip</a> in the landscape. Its loss means a different future for those who knew it. It’s as if you were reading a book you know – but someone changed the ending. <h2>Loss of connection</h2> We respond very differently when humans do the damage compared to natural processes. In one study, UK homeowners found it <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13698570802381162">harder to accept</a> their house being burgled than for it to be flooded, seeing flooding as more natural and thus less of a blow to their sense of security. This is partly why the sycamore’s death hurt. It didn’t fall in a storm. It was cut down deliberately – something that wasn’t supposed to happen. The sycamore was just a tree. But it was also not just a tree – it was far more, for many of us. It’s more than okay to talk about what this does to us – about how the loss of this thread of connection makes us grieve. Yes, we have lost the Sycamore Gap tree, just as we lost El Grande and many others. It is useful to talk about this - and to remember the many other beautiful and important trees that live on. <img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214841/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/rebecca-banham-830381">Rebecca Banham</a>, Postdoctoral fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tasmania-888">University of Tasmania</a> Image credits: Getty Images This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-wasnt-just-a-tree-why-it-feels-so-bad-to-lose-the-iconic-sycamore-gap-tree-and-others-like-it-214841">original article</a>.

Travel Trouble

Sapling planted at Sycamore Gap to "restore hope" removed by National Trust

UK resident Kieran Chapman, 27, is "absolutely gutted" after the sapling he planted in memory of the<a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/finance/legal/you-can-t-forgive-that-teen-arrested-after-felling-of-iconic-200-year-old-tree" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> felled Sycamore Gap tree</a> was heartbreakingly removed by National Trust. The 27-year-old spent hours on Friday planting the sapling just metres away from the stump of the iconic Sycamore Gap tree, but his efforts were in vain, as the sapling had been dug up by the National Trust on Sunday morning. The conservation charity said that they had to remove the sapling because it is a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site. A National Trust spokesperson told the Newcastle Chronicle that while they understand “the strength of feeling following the events at Sycamore Gap” the site “is a scheduled ancient monument and a globally important archaeological setting, with UNESCO world heritage designation”. “Altering or adding to it can damage the archaeology, and is unlawful without prior consent from government.” But Chapman couldn't hide his disappointment: “It’s just devastating, isn’t it? It genuinely brought people a lot of joy and that’s been taken away," he told the publication. “I honestly thought if it got a good response they might end up keeping it.” Chapman planted the sapling because he wanted to “restore people’s faith in humanity, bring a smile back to people’s faces and just give them a bit of hope”. “I planned to go and take the dog for a walk next weekend there," he added. In a follow up post on Facebook, Chapman added that he was told by the National Trust that his tree will be replanted on another piece of land at the Housesteads Visitor Centre on Hadrian’s Wall. “Too many politics around all this for my liking, the top and bottom of it, it’s a tree, planted in soil. I understand the land is protected, but to protect a tree from being planted in the earth, where they’re designed to be, no matter where it’s location, is crazy,” he wrote. Two people were arrested over the incident, a 16-year-old boy and 69-year-old former lumberjack. Both have been released on bail, with the lumberjack insisting that he had no involvement in the felling. “You’ve got the wrong feller,” he told The Sun. “I’m a former lumberjack and I’ve just been kicked off my property so I can see why people have pointed the finger. “My brother came down to make sure I hadn’t been arrested as he had heard a rumour that I had cut it down. I didn’t do it," he added. Images: Getty/ Facebook

Travel Trouble

"You can't forgive that": Teen arrested after felling of iconic 200-year-old tree

A 16-year-old boy has been arrested in northern England after what police describe as the "deliberate" felling of the iconic Sycamore Gap tree. The tree had stood next to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hadrian's Wall for nearly 200 years before it was tragically vandalised. Both locals and tourists have frequently stopped to capture a photo and appreciate the stunning tree ever since it gained fame for its appearance in Kevin Costner's 1991 film, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. Now, photographs from the scene on early Thursday showed that the tree had been cut off near the base of its trunk, and the locals are fuming. "The tree is a world-renowned landmark and the vandalism has caused understandable shock and anger throughout the local community and beyond," Northumbria Police said in a statement. "This is an incredibly sad day," they added. "The tree was iconic to the North East and enjoyed by so many who live in or who have visited this region." Alison Hawkins, was the first person to spot the damage while she was walking on the Hadrian's Wall path. "It was a proper shock. It's basically the iconic picture that everyone wants to see," she said. "You can forgive nature doing it but you can't forgive that." The Northumberland National Park authority have asked the public not to visit the iconic tree, which was voted as English Tree of the Year in 2016. Police report that the teen has since been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage, and has been assisting officers with their inquiries. Images: Getty

Legal

“That flying baby” shares her story almost 30 years on

While most babies have their little hands full with the all-important business of teething and crawling at six months, some have other things to be getting on with - and for one, that meant reaching for the stars. In 1991, six-month-old Jordan Leads was on a rock climbing trip with her parents in California’s Joshua Tree National Park when a picture of the young family was taken by photographer Greg Epperson, and then published by adventurewear brand Patagonia in its 1995 spring catalogue. The photo, titled “Come to Papa”, saw young Jordan - and the adventure-loving Sherry and Jeff Leads - bundled in a jumpsuit, soaring through the air between two large rocks with a substantial gap between them. She appeared to have been launched from her mum’s arms, and was heading straight for her father’s waiting ones. It fast tracked the family to worldwide fame, and even once the attention had settled, Sherry and Jeff made sure the moment wouldn’t be forgotten, choosing to hang a copy in the hallway of their family home. And now, almost 30 years on from the height of her stardom, Jordan has come to embrace that chapter of her life, going so far as to use the handle ‘That Flying Baby’ online. Though like her parents, Jordan’s life goal isn’t to head for the skies, with the young Leads following in their footsteps as an avid climber. And Jordan, who has a baby of her own, hopes to pass that passion onto her children when they’re old enough, as well as the story of her unusual rise to fame. "I can't wait to show [the pictures] to my kids one day,” she told NPR, “and to show them how I was growing up, how my parents raised me and to really just bring that whole family value of going outside back to them. "I would put [it] up on the wall, and then I could put my child's right next to it in our hallway ... I think that would be really cool." Jordan may have her work cut out for her getting the story to them first, however, with the picture making a resurgence online in recent years as entertained internet users transformed it into a popular meme. Thankfully, Jordan could see the fun in it all, even getting in on it herself when it came to her pregnancy announcement, when she photoshopped the faces of herself and her partner onto her parents’ bodies, and their ultrasound over the image of her younger self. But her favourite of all the edits takes things a little further from reality, as Jordan told Weekend Edition Saturday’s Scott Simon, it showed her parents “feeding me to a Jurassic Park dinosaur. I think that’s the best.” Images: Instagram

Travel Trouble

Princess of Wales shows off her tree-decorating skills

The Princess of Wales has given fans another glimpse into her Christmas spirit ahead of the holiday season. A few hours before her second annual Royal Carols: Together at Christmas concert, the Princess shared a video of herself decorating a tree. "Final touches before the #TogetherAtChristmas' Carol Service tomorrow," the caption read. The video shows a cheerful Kate dressed in a white turtle neck as she decorates a festive fir at Westminster Abbey. Fans commented on the video, wishing the Royal Family a Merry Christmas. “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to Prince and Princess,” someone wrote. “Season greetings your RH Catherine Princess of Wales,” another commented. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Final touches ahead of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TogetherAtChristmas?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TogetherAtChristmas</a> Carol Service tomorrow 🎄 <a href="https://t.co/mixjI8d5TD">pic.twitter.com/mixjI8d5TD</a> — The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) <a href="https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1603129389927071749?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2022</a></blockquote> “What a beautiful video. I’m so excited,” someone else wrote. The concert was a family affair with the support of Prince William, King Charles and the Queen Consort. The concert also celebrated the life of Queen Elizabeth II, who died on September 8. There were several choir performances of Christmas classics, including readings by the Prince of Wales and an introduction from The Princess of Wales. Royal Carols: Together at Christmas is set to air on ITV on Christmas Eve. Images: Twitter

Beauty & Style

Small town's Christmas display dubbed the "worst in history"

The Port Macquarie Council have been widely roasted online after the unveiling of their Christmas tree display, which has been dubbed the "worst in history". Families and community members turned out by the hundreds to see NSW Central Coast town light up its Christmas tree last week, which was met with a very mixed reaction. The long-anticipated reveal, which forced onlookers to wait until midnight for the lights to be turned on, was met with a chorus of disappointed sighs as the underwhelming tree was finally illuminated. Families expecting a glowing symbol of Christmas cheer were instead treated to a sight of Christmas gloom with sad looking fairy light strings barely clinging onto the huge pine tree's branches. Port Macquarie Hastings Council took the disappointment in its stride, mocking its own tree with an 'Instagram vs Reality' meme on Facebook. <iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpmhcouncil%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02tkGEispQKQLt4tsc5X3VP8iUQTyp2AFyMqLc1sQKw2CKZdGxsNHJKfSfCXVywhPVl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="677" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> "What can we say except ... you're welcome," the council wrote on Friday, alongside a smirk face emoji. "With everything our community has been through recently, we know everyone appreciates a good laugh!" "We are glad our very sad Christmas tree could provide that for everyone." "So let's be real. Our poor tree does look like it was decorated by Santa after he's whizzed around the world and had too many eggnogs." The council said its tree decoration was done with "the best of intentions" however "extraordinary winds and rain" had destroyed the lights. "Just like the rest of us - she's battered and bruised, but she's still standing," they said. Just days after the tree lights were turned on, the council confirmed it needed to strip the sad looking tree because it had become a "safety risk" to locals. "We have enjoyed your good humour and appreciation of our abstract piece of art," the council joked. "Unfortunately, the infamous lights will be removed, as they are slipping further down the tree and pose a safety risk and we are concerned if we leave the inflatable baubles up, we may not have any left by Christmas." Port Macquarie Hastings Mayor Peta Pinson later said the council was working hard to install their "original outdoor tree will be installed and working for everyone's enjoyment well before Christmas". "Again, I am so thankful to the community for coming and celebrating. Merry Christmas to our wonderful, witty and resilient community," she said. Image credits: Facebook

Travel Trouble

Your chance to finally live in a tree house!

A lot of homes are described as “once in a lifetime opportunity” but this one certainly takes the cake. An actual tree house just three hours from Los Angeles is up for grabs after hitting the market for a solid USD $3.8 million (AUD $5.4 million). Sitting on 6.69 acres in Pismo Beach, the house has parts of the tree it's built on enveloping the main living area, twisting from beneath and through the ceiling like the fictional Kraken. Despite being built in the 1960s, the different home has been perfectly maintained to ensure its intricate features remain. The land contains five different dwelling units that include one bedroom, one bath tree house, a large museum with a studio and one bedroom apartment. There is also a carriage house with a two bedroom apartment, and a studio apartment-with two car garage. And a main house with two bedrooms, one and a quarter baths with rock fireplace and wrap around decking, a shed/studio with full bath-each one with private views. Each of the homes contains wooded settings and private yards and decks thanks to the glorious oak tree. If that’s not enough to entice you, the properties include two sea train containers that are perfect as workshop areas as well as a Zen yoga platform to reclaim your inner peace. Images: Zillow

Real Estate

Aussie family uncover their royal connection

A family from the New South Wales Central Coast has discovered something unusual about their past which they claim could make them billionaires and even hold titles in a royal court. The Sharpe family live in Terrigal but have traced their lineage all the way back to a family estate in central London, thanks to a map found among some paperwork. Michael Sharpe also discovered another surprise fact while working on his family tree: he’s a direct descendant of the Earl of Oxford. “Elizabeth Sharpe is my seven or eight times great-grandmother and her father being the Earl of Oxford… it’s quite a story,” Michael Sharpe told <a href="https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/nsw-family-discover-royal-connection-through-earl-of-oxford-descendant/b270faf5-b48a-41d9-b24b-c2c35a326a5d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Current Affair</a>. Robert Harley, the Earl of Oxford, was Lord High Treasurer in the court of Queen Anne in the 1700s who owned the estate in Shooter’s Hill until his death. The estate and title, which included a 100-room mansion called Hazelwood House, were then passed to his son, George Harley. “There were 375 acres on the estate, which is now part of London,” Michael explained. “Eighty-seven million pounds was the value of the estate in 1931.” George’s sister Elizabeth, who is Michael’s grandmother many times over, had settled in the Richmond district in Sydney’s west when their father passed. But, by the time word reached her of Robert’s death, she was also in a bad way and urged her son William to return to London to claim the estate, according to letters found. “Unfortunately he died not long after her and it never happened,” Michael said. After that, the family were unaware of the estate until the Richmond Windsor Gazette obtained Elizabeth’s and her father’s will, publishing her obituary and a call-out for family members to claim the estate. “In the article, she is urging her children before her death to leave no stone unturned, to claim the property, including a large sum of money in the Bank of England,” Michael said. Then the search effort began during the 1930s, until the onset of World War II forced it to cease, with Michael and his late father picking up the search again. “It probably happens all the time when people don’t look into it further,” Michael’s wife Elizabeth said. Now, the family are hoping to prove their right to the kingly sum. “DNA - we can prove we are all related and it is just sitting there all these years,” Michael’s daughter Jordi said. “We have to get lawyers and more information on how to go ahead and contact the Bank of England.” Image: A Current Affair

Family & Pets

It's in the trees: Climate change could hamper carbon absorption

From rainforests to savannas, ecosystems on land absorb <a href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/21/files/GCP_CarbonBudget_2021.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">almost 30%</a> of the carbon dioxide human activities release into the atmosphere. These ecosystems are critical to stop the planet warming beyond 1.5℃ this century – but climate change may be weakening their capacity to offset global emissions. This is a key issue that <a href="https://www.ozflux.org.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OzFlux</a>, a research network from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, has been investigating for the past 20 years. Over this time, we’ve identified which ecosystems absorb the most carbon, and have been learning how they respond to extreme weather and climate events such as drought, floods and bushfires. The biggest absorbers of atmospheric carbon dioxide in Australia are savannas and temperate forests. But as the effects of climate change intensify, ecosystems such as these are at risk of reaching tipping points of <a href="https://theconversation.com/existential-threat-to-our-survival-see-the-19-australian-ecosystems-already-collapsing-154077" target="_blank" rel="noopener">collapse</a>. In our latest <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.16141" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research paper</a>, we look back at the two decades of OzFlux’s findings. So far, the ecosystems we studied are showing resilience by rapidly pivoting back to being carbon sinks after a disturbance. This can be seen, for example, in leaves growing back on trees soon after bushfire. But how long will this resilience remain? As climate change pressures intensify, evidence suggests carbon sinks may lose their ability to bounce back from climate-related disasters. This reveals vital gaps in our knowledge. Australian ecosystems absorb 150 million tonnes of carbon each year Between 2011 and 2020, land-based ecosystems sequestered <a href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/21/files/GCP_CarbonBudget_2021.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">11.2 billion tonnes</a> (29%) of global CO₂ emissions. To put this into perspective, that’s <a href="https://www.iea.org/news/global-co2-emissions-rebounded-to-their-highest-level-in-history-in-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener">roughly similar</a> to the amount China emitted in 2021. OzFlux has enabled the first comprehensive assessment of <a href="https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/10/851/2013/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australia’s carbon budget</a> from 1990 to 2011. This found Australia’s land-based ecosystems accumulate some 150 million tonnes of CO₂ each year on average – helping to offset national fossil fuel emissions by around one third. For example, every hectare of Australia’s temperate forests absorbs 3.9 tonnes of carbon in a year, <a href="https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/13/5895/2016/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to OzFlux data</a>. Likewise, every hectare of Australia’s savanna absorbs 3.4 tonnes of carbon. This is about 100 times larger than a hectare of Mediterranean woodland or shrubland. <hr /> <iframe class="flourish-embed-iframe" style="width: 100%; height: 600px;" title="Interactive or visual content" src="https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/9129848/embed" width="100%" height="400" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe> <div style="width: 100%!; margin-top: 4px!important; text-align: right!important;"><a class="flourish-credit" href="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/9129848/?utm_source=embed&utm_campaign=visualisation/9129848" target="_top"><img src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/made_with_flourish.svg" alt="Made with Flourish" /> </a></div> <hr /> But it’s important to note that the amount of carbon Australian ecosystems can sequester fluctuates widely from one year to the next. This is due to, for instance, the natural climate variability (such as in La Niña or El Niño years), and disturbances (such as fire and land use changes). In any case, it’s clear these ecosystems will play an important role in Australia reaching its target of net-zero emissions by 2050. But how effective will they continue to be as the climate changes? How climate change weakens these carbon sinks Extreme climate variability – <a href="https://theconversation.com/one-of-the-most-extreme-disasters-in-colonial-australian-history-climate-scientists-on-the-floods-and-our-future-risk-178153" target="_blank" rel="noopener">flooding rains</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/flash-droughts-can-dry-out-soil-in-weeks-new-research-shows-what-they-look-like-in-australia-161286" target="_blank" rel="noopener">droughts</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-angry-more-often-march-heatwave-signals-a-new-normal-13068" target="_blank" rel="noopener">heatwaves</a> – along with bushfires and land clearing, can weaken these carbon sinks. While many Australian ecosystems show resilience to these stresses, we found their recovery time may be shortening due to more frequent and extreme events, potentially compromising their long-term contribution towards offsetting emissions. Take bushfire as an example. When it burns a forest, the carbon stored in the plants is released back into the atmosphere as smoke - so the ecosystem becomes a carbon source. Likewise, under drought or heatwave conditions, water available to the roots becomes depleted and limits photosynthesis, which can tip a forest’s carbon budget from being a sink to a carbon source. If that drought or heatwave endures for a long time, or a bushfire returns before the forest has recovered, its ability to regain its carbon sink status is at risk. <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454278/original/file-20220325-17-1u3m5n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454278/original/file-20220325-17-1u3m5n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454278/original/file-20220325-17-1u3m5n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454278/original/file-20220325-17-1u3m5n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454278/original/file-20220325-17-1u3m5n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454278/original/file-20220325-17-1u3m5n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454278/original/file-20220325-17-1u3m5n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454278/original/file-20220325-17-1u3m5n6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption>Regrowth after bushfires return forests from carbon source to carbon sink. Shutterstock</figcaption></figure> Learning how carbon sinks may shift in Australia and New Zealand can have a global impact. Both countries are home to a broad range of climates – from the wet tropics, to the Mediterranean climate of southwest Australia, to the temperate climate in the southeast. Our unique ecosystems have evolved to suit these diverse climates, which are underrepresented in the global network. This means long-term ecosystem observatories – <a href="https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/13/5895/2016/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OzFlux</a>, along with the <a href="https://www.tern.org.au" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network</a> – provide a vital natural laboratory for understanding ecosystems in this era of accelerating climate change. Over its 20 years, OzFlux has made crucial contributions to the international understanding of climate change. A few of its major findings include: <ul> <li> the 2011 La Niña event led to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/droughts-and-flooding-rains-it-takes-three-oceans-to-explain-australias-wild-21st-century-weather-56264" target="_blank" rel="noopener">greening of interior Australia</a>, with ecosystems flourishing from increased water availability </li> <li> <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-heatwave-conditions-tasmanias-tall-eucalypt-forests-no-longer-absorb-carbon-176979" target="_blank" rel="noopener">heatwaves</a> can negate the carbon sink strength of our ecosystems, and even lead to carbon emissions from plants </li> <li> <a href="https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/13/6285/2016/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">land clearing</a> and the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720369412?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener">draining of peatland</a> systems add to Australia’s and New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions </li> </ul> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454281/original/file-20220325-22-sef4kn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454281/original/file-20220325-22-sef4kn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454281/original/file-20220325-22-sef4kn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454281/original/file-20220325-22-sef4kn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454281/original/file-20220325-22-sef4kn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454281/original/file-20220325-22-sef4kn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454281/original/file-20220325-22-sef4kn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454281/original/file-20220325-22-sef4kn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption>Each hectare of Australia’s savanna’s sequesters, on average, 3.4 tonnes of carbon every year. Bryn Pinzgauer/Wikimedia, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CC BY-SA</a></figcaption></figure> Critical questions remain Plans in Australia and New Zealand to reach net zero emissions by 2050 strongly depend on the ongoing ability for ecosystems to sequester emissions from industry, agriculture, transport and the electricity sectors. While some management and technological innovations are underway to address this, such as in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-scheme-used-by-australian-farmers-reveals-the-dangers-of-trading-soil-carbon-to-tackle-climate-change-161358" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agricultural sector</a>, we need long-term measurements of carbon cycling to truly understand the <a href="https://theconversation.com/forests-cant-handle-all-the-net-zero-emissions-plans-companies-and-countries-expect-nature-to-offset-too-much-carbon-170336" target="_blank" rel="noopener">limits of ecosystems</a> and their <a href="https://theconversation.com/existential-threat-to-our-survival-see-the-19-australian-ecosystems-already-collapsing-154077" target="_blank" rel="noopener">risk of collapse</a>. Indeed, we’re already in uncharted territory under climate change. Weather extremes from <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-heatwave-conditions-tasmanias-tall-eucalypt-forests-no-longer-absorb-carbon-176979" target="_blank" rel="noopener">heatwaves</a> to heavy rainfall are becoming more frequent and intense. And CO₂ levels are more than <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/state-of-the-climate/documents/State-of-the-Climate-2020.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">50% higher</a> than they were 200 years ago. So while our ecosystems have remained a net sink over the <a href="https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/18/5639/2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last 20 years</a>, it’s worth asking: <ul> <li> will they continue to do the heavy-lifting required to keep both countries on track to meet their climate targets? </li> <li> how do we protect, restore and sustain the most vital, yet vulnerable, ecosystems, such as “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12176-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">coastal blue carbon</a>” (including seagrasses and mangroves)? These are critical to nature-based solutions to climate change </li> <li> how do we monitor and verify national carbon accounting schemes, such as Australia’s <a href="http://www.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au/ERF/About-the-Emissions-Reduction-Fund#:%7E:text=The%20Emissions%20Reduction%20Fund%20is,technologies%20to%20reduce%20their%20emissions." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Emissions Reduction Fund</a>? </li> </ul> Critical questions remain about how well Australia’s and New Zealand’s ecosystems can continue storing CO₂.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179554/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/caitlin-moore-1186446" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caitlin Moore</a>, Research Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-western-australia-1067" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The University of Western Australia</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-campbell-1328524" target="_blank" rel="noopener">David Campbell</a>, Associate Professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-waikato-781" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Waikato</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/helen-cleugh-155096" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Helen Cleugh</a>, Honorary Professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-national-university-877" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australian National University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jamie-cleverly-238170" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jamie Cleverly</a>, Snr research fellow in environmental sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/james-cook-university-1167" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Cook University</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jason-beringer-1327013" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jason Beringer</a>, Professor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-western-australia-1067" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The University of Western Australia</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lindsay-hutley-157810" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lindsay Hutley</a>, Professor of Environmental Science, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/charles-darwin-university-1066" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charles Darwin University</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mark-grant-1195593" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Grant</a>, Science Communication and Engagement Manager; Program Coordinator, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The University of Queensland</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-20-years-of-studying-how-ecosystems-absorb-carbon-heres-why-were-worried-about-a-tipping-point-of-collapse-179554" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Domestic Travel

Trees get sunburnt too – but there are easy ways to protect them, from tree ‘sunscreen’ to hydration

We all know how hot and damaging the summer sun can be in Australia and most of us are only too willing to take sensible precautions, and slop on sunscreen. It’s not only humans that suffer from sunburn and its consequences. <a href="https://www.rspcasa.org.au/protect-white-pets-from-sunburn/">Some pets</a>, such as cats and dogs, can get sunburnt in some of their less furry places, and pig farmers have long known <a href="https://vetmed.iastate.edu/vdpam/FSVD/swine/index-diseases/photosensitization">the damage</a> sun can do to their prized stock. But have you ever wondered about sun damage to plants? Can trees be sunburnt? It may surprise you to know the answer is actually yes! Tree sunburn tends to occur during hot spring days or in early summer, when trees are full of moisture. So let’s explore why it happens, and the easy ways you can protect your trees from damage. <h2>Sun scorch on leaves</h2> Many of you may be thinking of sun scorch, which occurs on the leaves of some of our favourite garden plants on a hot summer’s day: the brown, wilted hydrangea leaves or the large blotchy brown patches that appear on camellia leaves that weren’t there at the beginning of the day. This is sun damage, but is not the same as sunburn on trees. Leaf scorch can occur because leaves are exposed to high levels of solar radiation. The damage is often exacerbated by a low level of <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/evapotranspiration-and-water-cycle?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects">soil moisture</a>, which reduces the cooling effect of transpiration (when water evaporates from leaves). <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436565/original/file-20211209-149721-1jv9r93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436565/original/file-20211209-149721-1jv9r93.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Sun damage on leaves is more likely to occur if the plant isn’t well hydrated. Shutterstock One popular and widely published cause of sun scorch on leaves is water droplets on the surface acting as a lens that focuses the sun’s rays and intensifies the heat – a bit like a magnifying glass. But this is a myth. There is <a href="http://allgreensod.ca/the-myth-of-hot-weather-watering/">little evidence</a> it occurs and considerable evidence that it doesn’t. So what does cause leaf scorch? Well, we’re not sure. However, it’s possible and <a href="https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2009.03161.x">perhaps likely</a> very high levels of radiation increase temperatures within some of the leaf cells. This damages the cells’ metabolic processes and limits the ability to photosynthesise in a process called “photoinhibition”. If enough cells are damaged, you can get general brown or dead leaf tissue. <h2>Sunscald and sunburn</h2> When dealing with trees, sunburn is also referred to as “sunscald” – which is unfortunate as there are two different processes at work, but even scientists often use the terms sunburn and sunscald interchangeably. In the northern hemisphere, sunscald usually occurs towards the end of winter, when a warm day is followed by a freezing night. The cells in the bark of the trunk or branches have become active during the warm day, and are then badly damaged as they rupture during the cold night. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436577/original/file-20211209-140109-1wjt10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436577/original/file-20211209-140109-1wjt10.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> A sunburnt tree trunk. Shutterstock Damage can be extensive, or even fatal, for some young trees and is nearly always greatest on the south and <a href="http://pubs.cahnrs.wsu.edu/publications/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/publications/fs197e.pdf">southwest facing</a> tissue. Short term temperature differences in Australia aren’t usually as extreme, so this sort of sunscald rarely occurs here. However, we do come across sunburn in trees when the sun causes serious damage to the bark of the trunk or branches. If the damage is severe enough, sunburn kills the bark causing necrosis – the death of cells or tissue. It’s usually a problem for trees with smooth and thin bark, such as several fruit tree species (stone fruits like apricot, plum and peach), birches, plane trees and some eucalypts. Trees with thick, fibrous or rough bark, such as oaks, elms, conifers and thick, rough barked eucalypts are usually insulated and protected. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436597/original/file-20211209-27-rft1nr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436597/original/file-20211209-27-rft1nr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> A sunburnt plane tree. Greg Moore, Author provided In Australia, sunburn nearly always occurs on trunks facing north or northwest, where exposure to the sun is hottest. Sunburn can <a href="http://pubs.cahnrs.wsu.edu/publications/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/publications/fs197e.pdf">also occur</a> on the upward facing side of branches of a tree directly exposed to the sun, and is common after pruning exposes previously shaded branches, such as on thin-barked street trees pruned for powerline clearance. <h2>Why does it happen?</h2> Sunburn tends to occur in <a href="https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and-problems/environmental/scorch.aspx">late spring and early summer</a>, when bark tissues are full of moisture and actively growing. Cells in the bark <a href="https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/pests-and-problems/environmental/scorch.aspx">are damaged or killed</a> by high levels of radiation and high temperatures. While high temperature can directly kill plant tissues, photoinhibition is another probable contributor. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436580/original/file-20211209-15-1bnxf66.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436580/original/file-20211209-15-1bnxf66.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Oak tree" /></a> Trees like oak, with thick rough bark aren’t vulnerable to sunburn. Shutterstock Sunburn damage may take time to manifest, but in smooth-barked trees, lesions may be over 1.5 metres in length, and over 100 millimetres wide. The tree tissue browns, dies, dries and splits, with the bark peeling back to expose the wood below. The wound can give access to <a href="https://joa.isa-arbor.com/article_detail.asp?JournalID=1&VolumeID=44&IssueID=1&ArticleID=3436">pests and diseases</a>, and slow growth in young trees. Likewise, sunburn damage <a href="https://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/flowers-shrubs-trees/heatwave-garden-how-identify-prevent-heat-stress-plants">to fruit</a> is common and often causes it to rot. In younger trees, it may <a href="https://fruittreelane.com.au/general/sunburn-damage-in-fruit-trees/">prove fatal</a>. <h2>How to slip slop, slap for trees</h2> The risk of both sunscald and sunburn has left an enduring legacy in Australia, as many post-war migrants to Australia from the Mediterranean region – particularly those from Italy and Greece – would routinely whitewash the base of their fruit trees. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436573/original/file-20211209-68670-lelh0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436573/original/file-20211209-68670-lelh0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Fruit trees with painted trunks" /></a> Whitewashing tree trunks and branches can help keep your tree feel and look cool. Shutterstock Sunscald may not have been much of a problem in their new home, but the whitewash was, and remains, a protection against sunburn – a literal slip slop, slap for trees! The whitewash shields the bark from the sun, reflects radiation and keeps darker coloured bark cooler. Other ways of <a href="https://www.sgaonline.org.au/protecting-plants-in-hot-weather/">protecting trees</a> from sunburn include wrapping them in light coloured paper, cardboard or cloth, planting susceptible trees in shadier parts of the garden and, for some trees, retaining lower branches that will naturally shade the trunk. But one of the best ways to avoid tree sunburn is to make sure your trees are properly irrigated ahead of very hot days as transpiration, like sweating, keeps tissues cooler. And of course, <a href="https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/yard-garden/leaf-scorch-2-911/">a good mulch</a> around the base of the trees maximises efficient water use and keeps soils cooler. So while you protect yourself from the sun this summer, remember to take care of your trees, too, and keep them well hydrated.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172953/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gregory-moore-1779">Gregory Moore</a>, Doctor of Botany, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-melbourne-722">The University of Melbourne</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/trees-get-sunburnt-too-but-there-are-easy-ways-to-protect-them-from-tree-sunscreen-to-hydration-172953">original article</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Domestic Travel

The world’s best Christmas displays

Cities all around the world are putting up their Christmas trees to get in the festive spirit, which results in some very impressive displays. Each year, a 25-metre tree stands tall in front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, with people flocking from all over the world to see the famous tree and frolic on the ice skating rink beneath it. In Barcelona, a luminous star is placed on top of the tower of the Sagrada Família basilica to illuminate the city. The star weighs a total of 5.5 tons and costs around $2.4 million. Washington D.C has an impressive display on the White House lawn, with one grand Christmas tree overlooking 50 smaller trees: one for each of the United States. London’s Natural History Museum boasts an impressive Christmas tree that sits in the middle of an ice skating rink, which will be running for its final year in 2021 after 16 Decembers in operation. In Moscow, ice skaters perform the story of Swan Lake in the iconic Red Square with all the buildings lit up in Christmas lights. The Slovenian capital of Ljubljana showcases a light-covered Christmas tree, with annual markets offering all the festive goodies you could wish for. Vancouver celebrates the festive season with its annual Festival of Lights at the VanDusen Botanical Gardens, where more than 15 acres of grass and trees are decorated with over one million lights. All image credits: Getty Images

Travel Tips

Mel Gibson called out by West Wing star in scathing op-ed

West Wing actor Joshua Malina has called out Mel Gibson and his employment in show business amid the controversial scandals surrounding the actor. Malina, who plays Will Bailey on the political drama, has questioned why Gibson is still employed in Hollywood despite his long history of alleged anti-Semitism, homophobia and bigotry. In a recent op-ed for The Atlantic titled <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/12/mel-gibson-anti-semitism/620873/" target="_blank">Cancel Mel Gibson</a>, Malina wondered why Hollywood's 'cancel culture' seemingly doesn't apply to Gibson. "Gibson is a well-known Jew-hater (anti-Semite is too mild). His prejudices are well documented," Malina wrote. "So my question is, what does a guy have to do these days to get put on Hollywood's no-fly list? I'm a character actor. I tend to take the jobs that come my way. But — and this hurts to write — you couldn't pay me enough to work with Mel Gibson." Mel Gibson has reportedly been cast in the upcoming John Wick prequel spin-off series titled The Continental, and is also rumoured to be in talks to direct Lethal Weapon 5. Malina continued, wondering when someone's ignorance and hatred outweighs their impressive resume. "Now, I love the Lethal Weapon movies (at least the first few). And Danny Glover's a gem," Malina continued. "But Gibson? Yes, he's a talented man. Many horrible people produce wonderful art. Put me down as an ardent fan of Roald Dahl, Pablo Picasso, and Edith Wharton; can't get enough of what they're selling." "But these three had the good taste to die. That makes it a lot easier to enjoy their output. Gibson lives. And Tinseltown need not employ him further." Joshua Malina goes on to say that the point of 'cancel culture' is to hold people accountable for their actions, but those in Hollywood often get a free pass because of their celebrity status. "If Gibson is welcomed back to direct the latest instalment of this beloved franchise, it may be time to stop publishing think pieces about the power of 'cancel culture,'" Malina wrote. "Because if he can continue to find big bucks and approbation in Hollywood, cancel culture simply does not exist." Image credits: Getty Images

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