Nature’s resiliency is on full display here at Yellowstone National Park, where new growth has emerged among the trees charred by the massive 1988 wildfires. More than 1 million acres in the greater Yellowstone area were affected by the blazes that summer, scarring 36 percent of the park. Today marks the 30-year anniversary of Black Saturday, a day when the park saw some of the worst damage, with smoke and ash blackening the skies. But when cool, moist weather brought an end to the devastating fires in late autumn, the ecosystem immediately began to recover. Fire has long been part of the complex ecosystem at Yellowstone and many species have even adapted to rely on fire to open up the canopy, spread seeds, and diversify the habitat.
Looking back at Yellowstone, 30 years after the fires
Today in History
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Atlantic puffin, Iceland
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Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the Louvre Pyramid
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It s Tolkien Reading Day
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It’s Opening Day for Major League Baseball
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Sweet! It’s maple syrup season
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Lakeside serenity in Finland
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Shark Fin Cove, California
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Working for that cliffside view
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It s only Wednesday
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Go Fly a Kite Day
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A Great view from above
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A polar bear near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
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Social climbing
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Halo around the sun
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Big Bend National Park turns 78
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Humpbacks return to the Inside Passage
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It s truffle season here in the Dordogne Valley
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A big birthday for Big Bend
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National Hug Day
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Chilling out in the Arctic
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Prague, Czech Republic
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Ahh-tumn
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We heart Berlin
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World Migratory Bird Day
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Bridge over the River Tara
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World Rainforest Day
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Next stop, Tofino
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Kissing Day
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A lunar lantern celebration
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A silent witness to history