Northern Forests Dying From Global Warming

Forests in northern climates from Alaska to Oregon are dying off as warmer temperatures create heat stress for trees accustomed to a cooler climate.

In the North Cascades in Washington state the forest is dying near the top; the trees are turning red. Similar reports of dying forests are coming from Mt. Ranier, Glacier Peak Wilderness, and down to central Oregon.

Huge expanses of forest in central British Columbia have died and turned red. Millions of acres of lodgepole pine have been killed by warming temperatures.

In northern Canada, satellite data shows a wide swath of forests getting browner. A massive Alaska yellow cedar die-off on 500,000 acres of land in ALaska has been documented by the US Forest Service. Scientists have ruled out any possible cause for the die-off other than global warming.

As these forests die, they will no longer convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, adding another possative feedback loop to the global warming process.

It may just be that by the time we recognize the seriousness of what's happen it will be too late to change it.