urgent action

Saving Giant Sequoias | Earth Wise

October 13, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Last year, the KNP Complex Fire burning in Sequoia National Park drew global attention as the General Sherman, the world’s largest tree, was wrapped in tinfoil-like material in order to repel the flames from the fire. Hundreds of firefighters labored for weeks trying to save giant redwood trees. Despite these efforts, the U.S. Forest Service estimates that wildfires killed 13% to 19% of the world’s giant sequoias in 2020 and 2021.

This past July, the Washburn Fire burned through part of Yosemite’s Mariposa Grove and the giant sequoias there were surrounded by automated sprinklers trying to shelter them from the flames.

For a century, government agencies have worked to extinguish all natural wildfires and prohibited Native people in the region from lighting the fires they traditionally used to manage their lands. As a result, forests have grown far thicker with trees that can fuel fires. The Sierras are now home to more than three times as many trees as when they were managed by indigenous communities. But more than 100 million of those trees had died by 2016 because of drought.

Add to this massive amount of kindling the effects of climate change – a hotter and drier environment – and there is the perfect storm for megafires among the giant sequoias.

There is federal legislation pending that would provide resources for prescribed burning and other forms of active forest management. It is controversial. It has attracted support from the Nature Conservancy, the Save The Redwoods League, and others, but also opposition from more than 80 environmental groups.

What is not controversial is that the Giant Sequoias are in the midst of a crisis and urgent action is needed.

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In California, a Race to Save the World’s Largest Trees From Megafires

Photo, posted December 10, 2014, courtesy of Laura Camp via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

How To Bend The Curve On Biodiversity Loss | Earth Wise

October 15, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Biodiversity has been declining at an alarming rate in recent years as a result of human activities, including land use changes, pollution, and climate change. According to a 2019 UN report, one million species – out of an estimated eight million – are threatened with extinction. Many scientists warn we are in the middle of the sixth mass extinction event in Earth’s history. Previous mass extinction events wiped out up to 95% of all species and took ecosystems millions of years to recover.

Fortunately, new research indicates that it might not be too late to bend the curve on biodiversity loss. According to the report, which was recently published in the journal Nature, more ambitious conservation measures are needed in order to preserve biodiversity. In addition, more efficient food production and healthier and less wasteful consumption and trade are needed to bend the curve.

If these measures are undertaken with unprecedented ambition and coordination, the research team says the efforts will provide an opportunity to reverse biodiversity loss by 2050.

But even under the best case scenario, ongoing land conversion will lead to further biodiversity losses before the curve starts to bend. In fact, at least one third of projected losses in the coming years are unlikely to be avoided under any scenario. Biodiversity losses were projected to be highest in the regions richest in biodiversity, including South Asia, Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

The study, which was led by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria, makes it clear that urgent action is needed this decade in order to have any chance of bending the curve.

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Curbing land clearing for food production is vital to reverse biodiversity declines

Photo, posted November 1, 2017, courtesy of Rod Waddington via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.