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Half of World's Palm Trees Face Extinction
Half of World's
Palm Trees
Go On the
'Red List'
new study
Sep 27, 2022 11:10 AM CDT

Half of World's Palm Trees Go On the 'Red List'

Which means they're at risk of extinction

(Newser) - A new study presents an alarming stat about what researchers call a "keystone" family of trees—more than half of the world's species of palm trees face extinction. The study in Nature Ecology and Evolution finds that more than 1,000 of the 1,900 different species are...

Miami Beach Is Cutting Back on Its Iconic Palms

Increasing the proportion of shade trees will make city more 'walkable and pleasant'

(Newser) - Miami Beach is planning to reduce the proportion of palm trees in the city's canopy—but authorities have reassured worried residents that it's not going to be Palmageddon. They say that instead of removing the iconic trees wholesale, they plan to plant more shade trees, and in projects...

Florida's Iconic Palm Trees Are in Trouble

Lethal bronzing is a problem from Jacksonville to the Florida Keys

(Newser) - Florida's iconic palm trees are under attack from a fatal disease that turns them to dried crisps in months, with no chance for recovery once they become ill. Spread by a rice-sized, plant-hopping insect, lethal bronzing has gone from a small infestation on Florida's Gulf Coast to a...

Palm Trees in Canada? It Could Happen in 'Decades'
Palm Trees Are on
a Mission Northward
new study
Mar 23, 2018 8:23 AM CDT

Palm Trees Are on a Mission Northward

Cold-tolerant species could reach northern US, Canada in 'decades'

(Newser) - Utah, Ohio, and Canada might soon be dotted with palm trees—because welcome to climate change. Following a 2007 study that found palm trees in the foothills of the Swiss Alps, an international team of researchers set out to learn how cold is too cold for palm trees. Upon surveying...

LA's Iconic Trees Are Dying Off
LA Is Losing Its Palm Trees
Sep 30, 2017 7:52 AM CDT

LA Is Losing Its Palm Trees

Beetles, fungus killing off iconic trees

(Newser) - Invasive insects, fungus, and old age are killing off Los Angeles' iconic palm trees—and despite their fame. the city isn't planning on replacing many of them. As the city's estimated 75,000 palm trees die off, the city plans to replace them with species that consume less...

Tree Trimmer Suffocated by Palm Fronds

He got trapped, firefighters pulled him out 2 hours later

(Newser) - A tree trimmer in North Las Vegas died yesterday after getting trapped in a palm tree, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. The fire department was called to the scene around 4:30pm; the man was having trouble breathing. Authorities found him unconscious and trapped in the fronds, and he later...

Teeth Solve an Easter Island Mystery

Scientists discover what the locals were really snacking on 800 years ago

(Newser) - Scientists have been pondering why people who lived on Easter Island (or Rapa Nui) appear to have eaten palm trees—a primary crop, reports Nature World News —for several centuries when other research suggests the plant went extinct right around the time of colonization in the 13th century. The...

Palm Tree Blazes Baffle Texas Officials

(Newser) - Officials in the coastal Texas town of Galveston are baffled by a series of arson fires targeting palm trees, the Houston Chronicle reports. “This is strange,” the town’s fire marshal says of the spree, which has hit 30 trees since May. “It’s the first case...

Disease Stalks Florida's Palms
 Disease Stalks Florida's Palms 
Jul 23, 2008 5:10 PM CDT

Disease Stalks Florida's Palms

State worries it lacks resources to identify, combat pathogen

(Newser) - A mystery disease is eating away at the sabal palm, Florida’s state tree, and scientists say the prospects of successfully fighting the disease are slim. The AP reports that an increasing number of the trees, which can grow up to 50 feet tall, have suffered collapsed canopies. "There's...

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