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As flames from the KNP Complex threatened to race up a steep slope toward the remote Muir Grove of giant sequoias, officials at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks had to think fast.
As flames from the KNP Complex threatened to race up a steep slope toward the remote Muir Grove of giant sequoias, officials at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks had
The massive trees have adapted through the centuries to withstand low-intensity fire, and they even need flames to reproduce. But experts say the drought-stressed sequoias are increasingly no match for extreme blazes stoked by climate change and a buildup of bone-dry vegetation.
Desperate to protect the giant trees, fire officials have wrapped them in foil and doused them with gel. Some methods have never been tested.
Following a year when authorities said wildfires burned down an unprecedented amount of sequoias, infernos blazing through two national parks are once again threatening the giant trees, underscoring how the increasing intensity of wildfires, drought and the effects of climate change endanger the survival of the species.