Beetles Win News Today

Plague of beetles arrived with the power to kill 100,000 trees a day. so many you could hear them over the phone. >> you could actually hear the beetles underneath the bark. im listening to my trees being killed. >> reporter: forest biologist janice cook has studied the invasion of mountain pine beetles for decades. just one effect of an overheating planet. >> warmer over winters and hotter, drier summers, we saw those populations not only rise to epidemic levels but in some areas hyperepidemic....

Epidemic levels, but in some areas what we call a hyper-epidemic. >> mountain pine beetles attack a single tree like an invading army and the pine kills cracks with a sticky chemical compound. this turns out to be highly flammable, so in the end if the beetles win, youve got a 50-foot fire starter. beetle kill forests help accelerate those western mega fires, and altogether 50 million acres have been lost up here, an area the size of minnesota. >> we have more than 30 mill closures in the interi...

Win, you have a 50-foot firestarter. beetle killed forest help accelerate those western megafires that all together 50 million acres have been lost up here, an area the size of minnesota. >> we have more than 30 mill closures in the interior of bc alone. mills are not running 24/7 anymore. >> reporter: in the meantime theres the 40-year-old trade war with the united states. based on an old formula, tariffs on canadian wood automatically doubled recently. joe biden could dial those back, but, lik...