Desk Report
Publish: 20 Nov 2021, 09:16 pm
Representational Image || Photo: Collected
Wildfires
that tore through California's forests this year killed thousands of giant
sequoia trees, officials said Friday in the first full-scale assessment of the
toll on the rare species.
Two
huge lightning-sparked blazes burned up to 3,600 of the trees, each of them
more than four feet (120 centimeters) in diameter, leaving them dead or expected
to die within the next five years, reports AFP.
The
figure represents five percent of the planet's entire reserve of the trees --
the largest species by volume in the world -- and comes after up to 14 percent
of them were wiped out by fires a year earlier.
"The
sobering reality is that we have seen another huge loss within a finite
population of these iconic trees that are irreplaceable in many lifetimes,"
said Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Superintendent Clay Jordan.
California
and other parts of the western United States were ravaged by huge, hot and
fast-moving wildfires this year, driven by years of drought and a warming
climate.
Scientists
say human activity, including the unchecked burning of fossil fuels, is a major
contributor to this planetary heating.
Images
of General Sherman -- the world's largest tree -- being wrapped in foil by
firefighters to protect it from flames spread around the world.
The
tree, which looms 275 feet (83 meters) above the forest floor, was unscathed.
The
imposing giants are well adapted to fires, with thick bark that protects them
from heat.
In
their lifetimes, which are measured in thousands of years, they typically
endure lots of blazes, the heat from which helps their cones to open, allowing
the seeds to disperse.
But
longer, hotter and more aggressive fires can damage them, sometimes
irreparably.
Two
major fires this year tore through 27 groves of the trees, which are only found
in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Forest
officials say the intensity of some of these blazes was worrying.
"Sequoias
generally regenerate well after wildfire, though reports of inadequate
regeneration in high severity areas are raising concerns," Sequoia and
Kings Canyon National Parks said in a report.
"Regeneration
failures could potentially occur if the cones and/or seeds were incinerated...
seeds did not survive the smoldering fire, or seeds (were) washed away due to
surface erosion."
The
report noted, however, that this year's fire season was not all bad news, with
previous "prescribed burns" having had their intended effect in reducing
the amount of fuel available to uncontrolled blazes.
Some
forestry experts say decades of zero tolerance of fires has left California's
woodland packed with potential fuel that became like a huge tinder box as it
dried out in the historic drought.
They
say allowing some fires to burn this excess vegetation, or deliberately setting
blazes in a controlled manner, helps to reduce the intensity and
destructiveness of the fires.
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Topic : Wildfires California
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