California’s enormous 2020 wildfires destroyed some of the state’s most iconic trees, including ancient redwoods, giant sequoias and over a million Joshua Trees.
The destruction has alarmed scientists, who worry that with climate change, these forests will never recover to what they once were. It also foreshadows a difficult future for California’s forests, with increasingly harsh fire seasons showing no signs of abating. For many Californians, the trees are not only iconic but deeply tied to childhood memories, making their loss not only ecological but emotional as well.
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Guest:
John Branch, reporter for The New York Times based in San Francisco; his latest story is “They’re Among The World’s Oldest Living Trees. The Climate Crisis Is Killing Them.”; he tweets