Sequoia National Park raises the alarm: in the last two years, more than 10.000 giant sequoias have been killed by fires in California
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himSequoia National Park raises the alarm: in the last two years, more than 10.000 specimens of giant sequoia have been killed by fires in California
The frightening fires of last summer have destroyed thousands of giant sequoias in California forests, and the tragic toll comes on top of last year's, which led to the death of about a fifth of Europe's largest trees. Fires in Sequoia National Park and surrounding wooded areas have destroyed about 10.000 trees native to this region.
Fires so intense and temperatures so scorching that they were able to kill these trees, once considered to be "fire resistant" - and that says a lot about devastating impacts of climate change: the combination of rising temperatures (which gave rise to increasingly dry summers and worrying drought phenomena) and a century of fires stirred up the flames, creating a death trap for these centuries-old trees - a sad reality that demonstrates, once again, the indelible damage that the human being is inflicting on nature.
(Read also: California's age-old redwoods are in danger right now, wildfires are about to wipe out a priceless legacy)
California has seen the largest wildfires in its recent history in the past five years - setting a dismal record for the number of acres gone up in smoke. After local authorities were taken aback by the devastating rage of the fires last year, extraordinary measures were put into action this year to save as many trees as possible: the tree renamed General Sherman, the oldest still living tree, and other very old trees have been covered with fireproof fabric sheets, in the hope of being able to save them from the flames; a particular type of retardant gel (similar to that used as an absorbent in baby diapers) was poured on the foliage of trees with a height of more than 60 meters; finally, fire hydrants were brought in and poured water onto the burning trees. These tricks have saved the Giant Forest, the park's most important ancient tree grove - but they can't be done everywhere.
FINAL #KNPComplex quick stats for November 2, 2021
More info @ https://t.co/VpxXBv19c4
Acres: 88,307
Containment: 75%
Total Personnel: 344
Crews: 4
Helicopters: 1
Engines: 6
Dozers: 1
Excavators: 13
Water Tenders: 1 pic.twitter.com/jGf0RBZ234
— Sequoia & Kings Cyn (@SequoiaKingsNPS) November 2, 2021
The sad reality is that we are witnessing an immense loss, which we will carry with us for generations - he says Clay Jordan, superintendent of Sequoia National Park. - As impressive and spectacular as these trees are, we can no longer take them for granted. To make sure they still exist for our children and grandchildren, we need to do something to save them now.
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Fonte: National Park Service
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