Forest in California may be disappearing
ByPines that were cut down after being killed in the 2021 Caldor Fire lie on the floor of Eldorado National Forest, Calif., near Lake Tahoe, on Oct. 22, 2022. Scientists say forest is disappearing as increasingly intense fires alter landscapes around the planet, threatening wildlife, jeopardizing efforts to capture climate-warming carbon and harming water supplies.
Forest like this is disappearing as increasingly intense fires alter landscapes around the planet, threatening wildlife, jeopardizing efforts to capture climate-warming carbon and harming water supplies, according to scientific studies. Despite relatively mild wildfire seasons the past two years, California has seen 12 of its largest 20 wildfires — including the top eight — and 13 of the most destructive in the previous five years. Record rain and snowfall this year mostly ended a three-year drought but explosive vegetation growth could feed future fires.
Some environmentalists, like Chad Hanson of the John Muir Project sponsored by the nonprofit Earth Island Institute, said there's a “myth of catastrophic wildfire” to support logging efforts — and he has often sued to block plans to remove dead trees or thin forests. However, others are concerned failure to properly manage forests can result in intense fire that could harm wildlife habitat, the ability to store climate-warming carbon in trees and the quality of Sierra snowmelt that provides about 60% of the water for farms and cities.“Areas where mixed conifer burned at high severity, those are all areas that are vulnerable to total forest loss,” said Christy Brigham, chief of resources management and science at Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks.
But after settlers drove out Native Americans and logged forests, fighting fires became the mission to protect the valuable trees — and, increasingly, homes built deeper into wildlands. In 1935, the U.S. Forest Service established a policy to knock down any fire by 10 a.m. the next morning. Manzanita and mountain whitethorn — chaparral typical at lower elevations in California — take root in ashes and can dominate the forest.A March study of 334 Western wildfires found increasing fire severity and drier conditions after fire made the dominant conifer species less likely to regenerate and it concluded the problem is apt to worsen with climate change.
Fire scientists advocate more deliberate burning at low-to-moderate severity to clear vegetation that makes forests susceptible to big fires. That will include cutting smaller trees, as well as setting intentional fires to clear accumulated forest litter.Last fall when Safford led two graduate students up a rutted fire road through charred forest, they came upon a patch of life where large pines and cedars towered overhead and seedlings sprouted.
“In my experience, things like logging, tree removal, even reforestation, those things happen,” Britting said. “The prescribed fire that needs to happen ... just gets delayed and punted and not prioritized.”
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Fire, other ravages jeopardize California’s prized forestsForest in California may be disappearing
Read more »
Fire, other ravages jeopardize California’s prized forestsForest in California may be disappearing. Scientists say repeated fires, drought and beetle infestations are altering the Sierra Nevada. Despite relatively mild wildfire seasons this year and last, California has seen 12 of its largest 20 wildfires — including the top eight — in the previous five years.
Read more »
Fire, other ravages jeopardize California's prized forestsOn a steep mountainside where walls of flames torched the forest on their way toward Lake Tahoe in 2021, blackened trees stand in silhouette against a gray sky.
Read more »
Conception boat fire trial: Jury chosen; opening statements to beginThe 2019 Conception dive boat fire is considered the worst maritime disaster in modern California history.
Read more »
I-80 reopened and evacuations lifted after windy brush fire west of Reno near California lineFirefighters are snuffing out the last hot spots after a small brush fire on the edge of Reno quickly grew to 45 acres in gusty winds overnight, forcing evacuations and briefly closing Interstate 80 near the California-Nevada line before crews got the upper hand.
Read more »
I-80 reopened and evacuations lifted after windy brush fire west of Reno near California lineFirefighters are snuffing out the last hot spots after a small brush fire on the edge of Reno quickly grew to 45 acres in gusty winds overnight, forcing evacuations and briefly closing Interstate 80 near the California-Nevada line before crews got the upper...
Read more »