Los Alamos National Laboratory: Gone for Good? California's Beetle-Killed, Carbon-Storing Pine Forests May Not Come Back
April 06, 2023
April 06, 2023
WASHINGTON, April 6 (TNSjou) -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory issued the following news:
Ponderosa pine forests in the Sierra Nevada that were wiped out by western pine beetles during the 2012-2015 megadrought won't recover to pre-drought densities, reducing an important storehouse for atmospheric carbon.
"Forests store huge amounts of atmospheric carbon, so when western pine beetle infestations kill off millions of trees, that carb . . .
Ponderosa pine forests in the Sierra Nevada that were wiped out by western pine beetles during the 2012-2015 megadrought won't recover to pre-drought densities, reducing an important storehouse for atmospheric carbon.
"Forests store huge amounts of atmospheric carbon, so when western pine beetle infestations kill off millions of trees, that carb . . .