Dying California forests offer a glimpse into climate change

Gee, and we've had people here arguing how the increased co2 will make plants grow better. Sure it will, as long as all other limiting factors are not in play - like water in this case.

That argument died out quickly once they understood that forests don't get fertilized and will consume their nutrients sooner and die earlier.

Recent studies also show that even if the forests get rain right now, it will take decades to recover. California has lost the equivalent of one entire year of rain, so it's going to take several years of above average rain just to get them back to normal.

The trees are faking the data. They're all a part of the conspiracy.

....woof, woof, woof,....

It was warmer whne the planet was a sea of boiling lava.

California's native trees are taking a hit, for sure. But not because of climate change. Despite the best efforts of the California Department of Agriculture we've had innumerable problems with invasive molds, funguses, and insects being brought into the state on lumber from foreign countries such as New Zealand and Indonesia.

The problem is that starting around the 1980's the state started revoking forestry permits to lumber companies and they also started imposing restrictive rules on lumbering on privately owned lands. In short, California's lumber industry is now a shadow of what it once was.

Yet we're building more homes out of wood than ever...even in the middle of a recession. The lumber is then imported and so much of it is coming in that agricultural inspectors are unable to keep up.

The result is that our native forests are being destroyed by fungus, molds, and beetles and then epic forest fires come along and wipe out whatever is left. See, the dead trees are not allowed to be removed for lumber so the fuel builds up and then we have the kinds of fires like we're seeing this year.

These once-native forests are then being replaced with non-native trees like Douglas fir and Lodgepole pine. There's even a test forest in Kern County of Monoao trees, a species native to New Zealand that is naturally resistant to tree fungus and beetles.

I say all of this because the explanation of "climate change" is bullshit and the well-documented fact that we've deliberately imported these problems is the correct, yet unpopular explanation.

The correct explanation is unpopular because it's the closing of our own lumber industry that caused this problem. The good intentions of environmentalists who simultaneously support unlimited immigration (that needs housing) are the causes of the problem.

And, honestly, it's probably too late to put the genie back in the bottle.

I guess that means we need to get used to seeing New Zealand's trees here in California.

Do you have any evidence to back this up?

A of it.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=ca ... +invasive+

Enjoy!

Edit: Here's an article that touches on what I mentioned...

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 352.x/full

CO2 does help many plants be more resistant to drought. That doesn't mean the plant no longer needs water. World bio mass has been increasing according to an interview that was in the Vancouver Sun with Freeman Dyson, who is one of the preeminent scientists of his generation.

The problem with congratulating yourself on the drought in California, is there's no evidence the drought is unseen over Californian geologic history. CO2 was low and there was a similar drought in the thirties.

Also, as I recall temperatures were similar so you don't have to go back to the times of boiling lava beds as Zip suggests.

In BC the mountain pine beetle has destroyed huge swaths of timber because climate change mean we haven't had the cold winter weather that would kill the beetle. I believe Albert a is also facing this problem. So while invasive species may be killing the trees, they may also be more successful because of the climate. Same thing with south american human diseases that are spreading north because the vectors are moving north.

And a drought stressed tree is much less resistant to pathogens.

True. I've heard tell that the tree ring record indicates droughts of 20-200 years in California's past. All of which was well before the advent of industrial civilization.

Hey you'se guys in the Lower Mainland! We're sick of Climate Change, can we have ours back now? Central BC is supposed to be hot and full of forest fires this time of year, not you!

I was going to call bullshit, but this appears to be true. What the research doesn't take into account is that the plants grown under drought conditions will produce less biomass than those grown under ideal moisture regimes. Ie it's not as if high co2 and drought produce more plant growth than adequate moisture and high co2. If the drought is caused by high co2 levels, that's still going to reduce plant biomass in the region experiencing drought.

As for world biomass, global warming isn't going to create drought world wide. In fact with the warmer air being able to hold more moisture, you would expect that other areas would be subject to more precipitation. It just depends if you give a shit about the areas that are affected by drought.

That study indicates that climate change and warming temperatures are contributing to wildfires. There is a tendency for global warming proponents to point to specific incidents (such as the current drought) and blaming claimte change. In fact, droughts are quite natural, and this one may have happened anyway. What we can say with a fair degree of certainty is that anthropogenic warming exacerbates natural trends.

Pine beetle infestations are quite natural here in BC. However, because the winters aren't as cold now (sustained temperatures of -40), the larvae have a better survival rate, which makes outbreaks worse.

edit: oops--as andy just pointed out, as well.