Being inundated with politics and the resistance of getting vaccinated or wearing a mask to help to prevent COVID-19, I would like to switch my thoughts and energy to saving the Sequoia trees.
Standing next to a big old Sequoia tree is one of the most awesome experiences a person can have.
These “burly” trees have had tunnels carved out of their trunks big enough to allow a car to drive through. The oldest Sequoias date back 3,000 years.
California has lost more than 10,000 Sequoias due to wildfires, many of which were around 500 years old. Theses Sequoias grow naturally only in California on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevadas.
The wildfires have been devastating and have caused extreme damage.
The response from the public has been lackadaisical in this matter of saving these trees, and they need to know the consequences of losing these magnificent trees. In three to five years these trees will be depleted by 20%.
The Donald Trump administration “scrubbed” the idea that wildfires, which at times were caused by climatic change, were responsible for the demise of the Sequoias. The scientists say rapid warming this century could wipe out many of these old trees. Warmer temperatures have played an important role in forest drought. No major forest type is immune to episodes of drought and heat.
The Sequoias growing today have seen what’s coming around the corner for them in the next 100 years and so should we humans.
Lois Eisenberg
Santa Clarita
