Читать книгу Hike the Parks Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks - Scott Turner - Страница 19

Beginning in 2012, the state of California experienced its worst drought in over a thousand years. Most climate scientists correlate the intensity of this drought with the exacerbating effects of climate change, which for California can be summed up in two words: warmer and drier. A corresponding rise in average temperatures has reduced the amount of precipitation that falls as snow, which in turn has led to a reduced snowpack. As a result, the conifer belt has begun to experience an unprecedented die-off. Between 2010 and 2018, ecologists estimate that over 130 million conifers succumbed to drought-related causes and bark beetle infestations through the central and southern Sierra Nevada. Consistent rises in temperatures coupled with diminished snowpacks in the future suggest that the sequoia groves and the great western Sierra conifer belt face an uncertain future, especially as uncontrollable summer wildfires become the new normal across the West.