Page 7 - Tree Ring Research News Today

To accurately predict species distribution and risk of extinction, models must include more than just climate, researchers say.

The gnarled bristlecone pines that have taken root high atop the remote, rocky slopes of California's White Mountains are the longest-lived individual trees on the planet – and they have secrets to share.

The gnarled bristlecone pines that have taken root high atop the remote, rocky slopes of California's White Mountains are the longest-lived individual trees on the planet – and they have secrets to share.

Timbers taken from demolished buildings in the city can extend by hundreds of years how far back in time scientists can tell what the climate was.

Big Pivots The East Troublesome Fire photographed on Oct. 20, 2020 by Brad White, fire chief of the Grand Fire Protection District in Granby. Colorado’s scariest wildfire in 2020 was not its largest. East Troublesome shocked because of its sprint and then its leap. It grew by 87,000 acres in a fiery dash across the headwaters of the Colorado River and past Grand Lake, most of that in just a couple hours. Smoke plumes rose 40,000 feet. The winds, variously estimated at 50 to 100 mph, were stro...

Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada In the 2017 and 2018, 2.55 million hectares burned across British Columbia, Canada, including unanticipated large and high-severity fires in many dry forests. To transform forest and fire management to achieve resilience to future megafires requires improved understanding historical fire frequency, severity, and spatial patterns. Our dendroecological reconstructions of 35 p...

Pretty good news.

KEY CONCEPTS Carbon dioxide (CO2) and temperature go hand in hand. The more CO2 we pump into the atmosphere, the more our planet warms. Once emitted, much CO2 remains in the atmosphere for hundreds to thousands of years, making it a powerful influence on the long-term warming trend.  According to data from NOAA, daily peak CO2 reached just over 421 ppm (parts per million), up from 417 ppm last year at Mauna Loa. It’s not just the record CO2 levels, but also the record pace. The Carbon Skyscr...

Mesa Verde National Park (MVNP) in what is today southwestern Colorado is a UNESCO World Heritage site dedicated to the preservation and presentation of the amazing cliff dwellings and other structures built and used by Ancestral Puebloans from roughly A.D. 600 until the end of the 13th century. Visitors to spectacularly beautiful sites such as Cliff Palace and Spruce Tree House find them mesmerizing, unforgettable, and thought-provoking. These and other cliff structures were handmade with mill...

The African baobab ( Adansonia digitata) is the only non-conifer ever recorded to reach in excess of 2,000 years old. As they do not produce wood with crossdatable rings, they can only be dated through the use of radiocarbon dating. The Panke Baobab in Zimbabwe, which had a circumference of 25.5 m (83 ft 7.9 in) and had nearly 400 m3 (14,126 cu ft) of wood and bark, was at least 2,450 (±40) years old when it collapsed and died in 2011. This not only makes it the oldest hardwood tree to be accu...