Redwoods Threatened by Climate Change

No other tree is as revered and iconic as the monumental redwood. They are nature's cathedrals, towering around 300 feet tall, adorned in rust-colored bark and bearing the majesty of 2,500 years. Loss of fog may be causing the harm to the Redwood forest, According to a study by James A. Johnstone and Todd E. Dawson of the University of California at Berkley. Frequent summer fog along the coast from Monterey to the Oregon border helps nurture the coast. The redwoods' ability to draw water from fog is crucial in maintaining the wet climate that they and so many other species, some endangered, thrive in.To obtain a historical record of coastal fog, the researchers looked at data on ceiling heights recorded hourly at several airports from 1951 to 2008 and found that fog frequency in summers has declined by about one-third. Due to a lot of loss of water through transpiration, Red woods rely on the high humidity in fog to slow, stop or even reverse the process and to conserve water during the drier summer months. This is just another example of the devastating losses caused by climate change. We need to appreciate and conserve our countries natural beauty and grandeur while we still have it.

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