Comments witsendnj has made

I am very concerned that ozone is killing trees and other vegetation at a rapid rate on the Eastern Seaboard of the US and perhaps other places around the globe as well. witsendnj.blogspot.com I wish somebody with more qualifications than I have would take a serious gander at the condition of trees, all of which appear to be exhibiting damage, and bring this to public attention. Trees are the foundation of our ecosystem and without them all dependent species are in peril. Not to mention, if the atmosphere is so polluted trees cannot thrive, what does that say about annual crops?

tree senescence

Recently I have written to various environmental groups and so far found, to my surprise, that even those whose mission is to preserve the environment are strangely oblivious to some immediate and recognizable effects of climate change and pollution.  Perhaps that is because there are so many impacts, such as coral reef bleaching and melting glaciers, that compete for scientific study and press attention.  However I think the wholesale demise of trees on the East coast should be of particular interest, since the consequences are likely to directly impact even elected officials who make US policy.  Not even the most privileged among us will be immune from the transformation to a treeless landscape.

As a non-scientist but observant naturalist, I believe we are on the brink of total ecological collapse - at least here where I live, in western NJ - and the states around here I have had occasion to visit recently, PA, NY, CT and RI.

I can find virtually no one who is interested in the fact that ALL the trees in this area are in decline.  At the current pace, within 2 to 5 years, there won't be a tree left alive.  In this part of the Eastern Seaboard, it's pretty obvious to me that the death of trees, whether coniferous or deciduous, old or young, is ubiquitous and crosses all boundaries to include every species.  In hindsight, since I have lived in the same wooded area for 30 years, I can see where this decline began at least a decade ago.  Until this year I attributed it to individual blights, and optimistically planted hundreds of trees on my farm.

These past few months however, it has became gradually and painfully clear to me that the decline is accelerating at a truly astonishing pace.  I can see lichens smothering tree trunks, spreading by the day.  Many pine trees are already utterly bare of needles and those that aren't are yellowing, thinning and covered with cones in a defiant attempt to reproduce.

What is causing this alarming decline?  It cannot be any one disease, pest, or fungus, because every single variety of tree is visibly suffering.  Having thought about this since last July, when leaves uniformly became shriveled, scorched or brown, I have come to the conclusion that the prolonged drought, and particularly the lack of snow cover in winter which should blanket and saturate the ground with water, must be responsible.

Of course, air pollution doesn't help either, and there are opportunistic parasites and invasive species.  But the underlying cause for such a universal impact upon trees ranging in age from 2 to 300 years must be global warming - which has led to a severe, long-term attendant dryness.  The NJ state DEP seems to prefer willful ignorance of this phenomenon and refuses to consider any drought indicators other than reservoir levels.

In spite of, or perhaps because of, the inevitable consequences to accepting this premise, few seem willing to even ponder the staggering dimensions of a complete loss of trees.  Wildfires, loss of habitat for all dependent critters and plant species (including the destruction of stream life dependent on shaded banks), downed power lines with extended outages, crushed homes and commercial buildings and blocked roads - it seems no one will take notice until these events come to pass here on the east coast, as they have already been more obvious in the West (although still not often linked to global warming).

In the news just the past few days about the ice storm in New England, not one report I heard seems to have considered the idea that the trees are collapsing so badly because they are already weakened due to climate change.  Here in NJ, even without an ice storm, trees are toppling.  As a mushroom collector for over 30 years, I am sorry to report that the morels I have found in the same reliable spot were completely absent the last two seasons.  Another telling indicator is that here, in a very rural locale, rivers, hills, homes and other structures that were until this year shrouded by the woods, even in winter, are now plainly visible.

Also implicit is that the loss of trees will lead to feedback loops, making the climate ever hotter and even drier.  I fear that golf courses and long showers will be unattainable luxuries and we will be fortunate to have a cup of water with which to brush our teeth.  For my children, I dread the conflicts that will accompany scarce basic resources.

In attempting to communicate my concerns with various environmental groups I have frequently found that even they are in denial.  I suppose from their point of view, their own jobs are at stake - who would contribute funding to a conservation society whose mandate is to plants trees, if they admit we are in for desertification and the trees cannot thrive?  Nurserymen who you would expect to be aware also stand to lose their livelihood should they advise their customers not to waste money investing in planting trees - and even foresters won't have much of a future if there are no forests to study.

Nevertheless it dismays me that so few people will even acknowledge what is, quite frankly, obvious to anyone who bothers to actually see the evidence in plain view.  I wrote to two local newspapers about the issue - they didn't even run them as letters to the editor.  I believe if the scientific facts were made available (presuming they exist - I have found it difficult to find very recent studies of forest health, especially in language accessible to non-experts), the general citizenry would be far more receptive to fundamental change in politics as usual.

If there is any hope of averting a complete loss of biodiversity, and ultimately human civilization as we have had the privilege to know it, we really must stop kidding ourselves about the consequences of inaction.  It's too bad that it looks like people will not pay attention to this until literally, a tree falls on their house...if then.

I am hopeful that someone who has the appropriate credentials will make a serious, objective study of the trees in their current condition, and use the information (or at least, make it available) in an attempt to reach the public and inspire a real effort to stop this tragedy in the making.  It's not that I think this particular aspect of climate change is by any means the worst the world will face.  Islands inundated by seawater are surely more terminal.

But I do think perhaps it might be an aspect that will bring the issue alive for the US electorate in a way that a more remote disaster will not.  Pretending that we have until 2050, as Thomas Friedman suggests, to fiddle around with emissions, is nothing but self-delusion.

So many have claimed they didn't see the economic collapse on the horizon.  There is a far more devastating collapse in our future.  For me, it is like watching a slow-motion train wreck.  I can't avert my eyes...and it is fast transforming into a fast-action train wreck.On After Poland talks, a new reality starts to set in, says McKibben; 350 ppm must be the goal posted 11 months, 2 weeks ago 22 Responses