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Climate is changing too quickly for the Sierra Nevada's 'zombie forests'

CAMILA DOMONOSKE, HOST:

Climate change is happening too quickly for some trees in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. New research shows that 1 in 5 conifers likely won't survive the climate conditions they now live in. NPR's Joe Hernandez reports on the fate of these so-called zombie forests.

JOE HERNANDEZ, BYLINE: Even if you've never been to the Sierra Nevadas, you can probably picture the striking terrain.

AVERY HILL: Ponderosa pines, Jeffrey pines. There are some Douglas firs in there, as well. And these typically large, tall trees dominate these forests in the landscape.

HERNANDEZ: That's Avery Hill, who studied these trees as a graduate student at Stanford University. Hill and other researchers compared vegetation data from the 1930s to the present, and they found that 20% of the conifers in the California Sierra Nevadas are now a mismatch for the climate they live in. That means it's only a matter of time before these trees die out and get replaced with other types of plants.

HILL: They're kind of, you know, cheating death in a way. We think of them as the standing dead.

HERNANDEZ: That's why Hill and others have started calling these areas zombie forests. And the reason these conifers are in such danger is because the climate has changed a lot. Temperatures are warming, and there's less rainfall in these areas, which are also seeing an increase in wildfires and human activities like logging.

HILL: So altogether, these drivers are shaping kind of the forest of the future.

HERNANDEZ: The researchers made maps showing exactly where these Sierra Nevada zombie forests are, and Hill hopes that'll help put climate change into perspective for viewers.

HILL: It's not backwards looking like I think a lot of the kind of ecosystem change conversations are. It's forward looking and saying, OK, well, now what (laughter)?

HERNANDEZ: Having the knowledge of what climate change will do ahead of time gives people a choice, Hill says - try to resist or contain these changes or accept that they're going to happen. Joe Hernandez, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.