A menace in our mountains: the terrifying climate truth behind California’s fall forest colors
Fall in the United States is known for the colors in New England, as trees turn to the warm shades of autumn before dropping their leaves. That sort of change historically wasn’t common here California, where our forests are mostly evergreen pine trees. At least, that used to be true–but not anymore. Thanks to drought and climate change, there are now 66 million dead trees in California, a number that may triple by year’s end. That’s almost one million linear miles of dead biomass, enough to stretch to the moon and back twice. But, when combined with a forward thinking……