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1,200-Year-Old Tree Said to Have Sheltered Robin Hood Has Died

A 1,200-year-old Major Oak tree, where Robin Hood allegedly used as a hide out, stands in Sherwood Forest near Nottinghamshire, England, on October 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Simon Dawson, File)
A 1,200-year-old Major Oak tree, where Robin Hood allegedly used as a hide out, stands in Sherwood Forest near Nottinghamshire, England, on October 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Simon Dawson, File)
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1,200-Year-Old Tree Said to Have Sheltered Robin Hood Has Died

A 1,200-year-old Major Oak tree, where Robin Hood allegedly used as a hide out, stands in Sherwood Forest near Nottinghamshire, England, on October 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Simon Dawson, File)
A 1,200-year-old Major Oak tree, where Robin Hood allegedly used as a hide out, stands in Sherwood Forest near Nottinghamshire, England, on October 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Simon Dawson, File)

A massive ancient oak tree linked to the legend of Robin Hood may have been loved to death.

The 1,200-year-old Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is believed to have died after it didn’t sprout leaves this spring, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said Thursday.

Visitors over the past two centuries who viewed the tree’s gnarled limbs and sprawling canopy in Nottingham compressed the soil, making it difficult for rain to reach its roots, the conservation group said, according to The Associated Press.

The forest has been under threat for years and the tree had been rumored to have died in the past — only to have the group confirm it was still alive. That is no longer the case.

“The tree’s failure to produce leaves this year is heartbreaking for everyone,” Hollie Drake of the RSPB said in a statement announcing the death.

The tree is said to have sheltered Robin Hood, the legendary 13th century bandit who stole from the rich and gave to the poor and took refuge in the forest when being pursued by the sheriff of Nottingham.

It got its name after being mentioned in a book on oaks by Major Hayman Rooke in 1790 that led to the first wave of fans who flocked to the forest.

It’s impossible to say what killed the tree, but the footprints of millions contributed to its downfall, along with intervention to shore up its massive limbs using cables and poles. Climate change that has brought heat waves and drought was also blamed.

Tree experts found the root system strangled and starved.

“Ancient trees like the Major Oak are the ‘conservation white rhinos of the UK’ but their decline is far less visible,” said Ed Pyne, of the Woodland Trust. “Saving them is vital to the health of the world we live in and yet most disappear quietly, without the recognition or care given to the Major Oak.”

In addition to its place in folklore, the forest is known for Sherwood oaks that floated the ships of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson’s Royal Navy in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and as timbers in the roof of St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

The Major Oak was spared from the saw and has been protected by a fence since the 1970s.

“The Major Oak will continue to stand at the heart of Sherwood as a natural monument for visitors to come and see, living on in the legend of Robin Hood and continuing to provide as much support to the forest’s ecosystem in death as in life,” Drake said.

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A Giant Pumpkin Named Rocky Gives a Champion Grower His California Comeback

Travis Gienger, of Anoka, Minn., poses for photos with his pumpkin that won first place at the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, in Half Moon Bay, Calif. (AP)
Travis Gienger, of Anoka, Minn., poses for photos with his pumpkin that won first place at the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, in Half Moon Bay, Calif. (AP)
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A Giant Pumpkin Named Rocky Gives a Champion Grower His California Comeback

Travis Gienger, of Anoka, Minn., poses for photos with his pumpkin that won first place at the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, in Half Moon Bay, Calif. (AP)
Travis Gienger, of Anoka, Minn., poses for photos with his pumpkin that won first place at the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off, Monday, Oct. 12, 2026, in Half Moon Bay, Calif. (AP)

A pumpkin named Rocky won a major annual pumpkin-weighing contest in Northern California, tipping the scale at 2,389 pounds (1,083 kilograms), but fell far short of a possible new world record set just days earlier in Rhode Island.

Horticulture teacher Travis Gienger hauled his pumpkin across the country from Minnesota to win the contest for a fifth time. He's going home with $21,501 in prize money after beating dozens of other giant pumpkin-growers in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.

He missed out on last year's contest because his pumpkin broke while growing. Hoping for a comeback story, he named this year’s pumpkin “Rocky” after the iconic boxer played by Sylvester Stallone.

“Five-time champion, that’s what we came here to do,” Gienger said following the win.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, a new world record for the heaviest pumpkin appears to have been set by Ron Wallace of Greene, Rhode Island, at a contest in New England. His giant squash weighed 3,156 pounds (1431.5 kilograms) — nearly the weight of three concert grand pianos.

It hasn't yet been verified by the Guinness Book of World Records, which lists a 2,857-pound (1,296-kilogram) squash grown by Ian Paton, of Lymington, England. That record had been set only a few days earlier.

“My hat’s off to him, that’s a big pumpkin,” Gienger said.

Gienger grows his gourds in his backyard pumpkin patch in Anoka, a city on the banks of the Mississippi River north of Minneapolis, according to Ronan Fowler, the competition’s organizer.

This year, Gienger had to deal with temperatures that dipped below freezing, and he says that in order to start competing more seriously, he'll likely have to start growing pumpkins in a climate-controlled environment.

“The fact that Travis can weather the elements, like 30-degree weather, and still grow this massive pumpkin is pretty unbelievable,” Fowler said.

Gienger and his family drove 35 hours over the weekend to get the pumpkin the size of a small car to California.

Hundreds attended the 53rd World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off to enjoy food trucks, music, and pumpkin-related jokes. Earlier in the day, the crowd went wild when a very symmetrical pumpkin named Tinkerbell won the prettiest pumpkin contest.

The prize money was calculated at $9 per pound of pumpkin and Gienger's winning gourd will be showcased during a parade through Half Moon Bay this weekend. Gienger missed out on an extra prize of $30,000 for breaking the world record.

Sadly, these giants are grown for their size, not flavor, so there were no giant pumpkin pies at the end of the festival.

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EU Monitor: El Nino Sets Temperature Record in Key Pacific Zone

The El Nino phenomenon triggers changes in weather that can exacerbate man-made global warming. Gerardo MENOSCAL / AFP/File
The El Nino phenomenon triggers changes in weather that can exacerbate man-made global warming. Gerardo MENOSCAL / AFP/File
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EU Monitor: El Nino Sets Temperature Record in Key Pacific Zone

The El Nino phenomenon triggers changes in weather that can exacerbate man-made global warming. Gerardo MENOSCAL / AFP/File
The El Nino phenomenon triggers changes in weather that can exacerbate man-made global warming. Gerardo MENOSCAL / AFP/File

An intensifying El Nino broke a temperature record in a key zone of the Pacific in September, the EU's climate monitor said Monday, in another sign the weather pattern is gaining exceptional strength.

Global forecasters have been warning for months that this El Nino would likely become the strongest ever observed, and the latest record has tumbled even before the episode's expected peak later this year.

The warming phase of a natural climate cycle, El Nino raises sea temperatures in the tropical Pacific, triggering changes in weather that can increase the risk of drought and flooding, and exacerbate man-made global warming.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service said sea surface temperatures in a tell-tale El Nino monitoring region of the Pacific, known as Nino3.4, had reached an "all-time high" of 29.70C last month.

This exceeded the peak temperatures of previously strong El Nino events of 1982/1983, 1997/1998 and 2015/2016, "underscoring the exceptional intensity of the current El Nino", the EU monitor said.

But in a statement to AFP, Copernicus said it "cannot yet say that the current El Nino is the strongest ever recorded".

As climate change raises ocean temperatures, it can make recent El Nino events appear stronger than past ones, complicating historical comparisons.

Copernicus said it had adopted a new index, which accounts for the warming of tropical oceans, that suggested the current event is not yet stronger than past ones.

But the values observed in September "point to an already exceptionally strong El Nino, especially given that the event has not yet reached its peak", Copernicus told AFP.

Not all forecasters use the same scale to interpret El Nino.

On Friday, Japan's weather agency said that El Nino conditions had reached their "strongest intensity on record", with temperatures in the phenomenon's monitoring area 4C above normal.

- Record ocean temperatures -

As El Nino gathers strength, global average sea surface temperatures hit a record 21.05C for September, topping the previous high of 20.92C for the same month in 2023, according to Copernicus.

Overall, the world experienced its second hottest September on record, with surface air temperatures averaging 16.27C, the EU service said.

September was 1.63C hotter than the pre-industrial average, a period defined as 1850-1900.

Nations agreed at the 2015 UN climate talks in Paris to keep global warming "well below" 2C above pre-industrial levels, while pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5C, in order to limit the effects of climate change.

But the United Nations declared in September that the long-term 1.5C target would be missed in a matter of years.

"We are in a new run of months above 1.5C, and with a strong El Nino still intensifying it is likely to last into 2027," Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo said in a statement.

"Crossing the Paris Agreement's long-term limit is only a matter of time. How far we overshoot, and for how long, is still up to us," he said.

Scientists say it is crucial to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels to limit the period of "overshoot" above 1.5C and bring temperatures back down as quickly as possible.

Experts have warned that this El Nino would likely push global temperatures to a new record in 2027.

El Nino warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, bringing worldwide changes in winds, pressure and rainfall patterns.

It typically takes place every two to seven years and lasts around nine to 12 months.

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Indonesia Moves 8 Endangered Orangutans to Safety after Borneo Fires

A Borneo orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) named Mama Lifa, along with her baby Lifa (unseen), who were rescued from an area affected by wildfires, leave the cage during translocation at Batu Nyambu protected forest area in Ketapang regency, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia, October 9, 2026. Muffidz Ma’sum/Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI)/ Handout via REUTERS
A Borneo orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) named Mama Lifa, along with her baby Lifa (unseen), who were rescued from an area affected by wildfires, leave the cage during translocation at Batu Nyambu protected forest area in Ketapang regency, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia, October 9, 2026. Muffidz Ma’sum/Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI)/ Handout via REUTERS
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Indonesia Moves 8 Endangered Orangutans to Safety after Borneo Fires

A Borneo orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) named Mama Lifa, along with her baby Lifa (unseen), who were rescued from an area affected by wildfires, leave the cage during translocation at Batu Nyambu protected forest area in Ketapang regency, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia, October 9, 2026. Muffidz Ma’sum/Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI)/ Handout via REUTERS
A Borneo orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) named Mama Lifa, along with her baby Lifa (unseen), who were rescued from an area affected by wildfires, leave the cage during translocation at Batu Nyambu protected forest area in Ketapang regency, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia, October 9, 2026. Muffidz Ma’sum/Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI)/ Handout via REUTERS

Indonesian authorities and conservation workers successfully moved eight orangutans to a safe location after the endangered primates' homes were destroyed by wildfires in the forests of Borneo, they said on Sunday.

The Southeast Asian nation is battling its most intense wildfires in 11 years, mainly on Sumatra and Borneo islands, and the government has warned the blazes could continue until November, aggravated by the El Niño weather pattern.

Three mother-child pairs and two adolescent male orangutans were among those rescued between August and September from several locations, ⁠the Indonesian government ⁠and wildlife foundation, Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI) said in a statement.

"Their relocation to Batu Nyambu protected forest is expected to give the eight orangutans a chance to return to living naturally," the statement read, according to Reuters.

Orangutans are critically endangered great apes found in the wild ⁠only on the Southeast Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra, with Indonesia home to all three recognized species, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Populations have declined due to deforestation, wildfires and poaching.

The relocation operation took six hours by car, one hour on boats, and two more hours on foot, with the orangutans in cages carried on bamboo poles. Before they were moved, YIARI conservationists checked the animals' health.

Since August, the West ⁠Kalimantan Natural ⁠Resources Conservation Agency and YIARI have rescued 46 orangutans affected by fires, agency head Murlan Dameria Pane said.

From January to July this year, fires burned around 202,000 hectares (500,000 acres) in Indonesia. No official data for subsequent months has been released, but non-governmental organizations estimate fires have burned at least 600,000 hectares more since.

Haze from the fires has caused 175,000 cases of respiratory illness in Indonesia, with the smog affecting neighboring Singapore and Malaysia where many schools were closed on Friday as air quality deteriorated.