Climate change maybe wiping out thousands-years-old trees
- 6 years ago
AFRICA — Climate change maybe killing some of the world's most ancient and beautiful trees, according to new research.
Writing in a new study in the journal Nature Plants, researchers detail how they tracked African Baobab trees using radiocarbon dating since 2000.
According to Popular Science, the researchers looked at at 60 trees in total.
Their findings report that nine of 13 oldest trees have began to perish, as have five of six larger ones. The deaths just began occurring in the last 12 years, scientists don't know particularly why.
But they do have a guess and it's the usual suspect: climate change.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times via email, lead author Adrian Partut explained the trees were used to "drier and colder conditions, but possibly not to hotter conditions.
Partut told the Times he and researchers suspect that the combination of "temperature increase and extreme drought stress were responsible for these demises."
Writing in a new study in the journal Nature Plants, researchers detail how they tracked African Baobab trees using radiocarbon dating since 2000.
According to Popular Science, the researchers looked at at 60 trees in total.
Their findings report that nine of 13 oldest trees have began to perish, as have five of six larger ones. The deaths just began occurring in the last 12 years, scientists don't know particularly why.
But they do have a guess and it's the usual suspect: climate change.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times via email, lead author Adrian Partut explained the trees were used to "drier and colder conditions, but possibly not to hotter conditions.
Partut told the Times he and researchers suspect that the combination of "temperature increase and extreme drought stress were responsible for these demises."