Researchers climbed the iconic General Sherman Tree, the world’s largest tree located in Sequoia National Park, California, to inspect for signs of bark beetle infestation which poses an emerging threat to giant sequoias.
After descending the towering 2,200-year-old, 275-foot sequoia, they reported the tree appears healthy and able to fend off any beetle attacks currently. However, as the climate grows hotter and drier, the Earth’s largest living trees which have survived for thousands of years are increasingly threatened by extreme heat, drought, and wildfires that have already killed up to 20% of the roughly 75,000 mature giant sequoias in recent record-setting blazes.
Read the full article here → https://apnews.com/article/sequoia-trees-climate-beetles-california-sierra-nevada-94dd718bda612a54f2fff627ebccfe52