The rings show survival through extreme weather in the past, but today's battle is the toughest yet.
 | By Nathaniel Lash Graphics Reporter, Opinion |
Meteorologists will log the high temperatures of the intense heat sweeping over much of North America (and Europe) this week in their record books. But it will not be the only data collected from this incredible summer — nor from the two decades of drought that preceded it across the American Southwest. |
The region's trees will mark this hot, dry season in a growth ring. These annual records accumulated over centuries are a window into the climate, past and present. |
 | | The New York Times |
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The dendrochronologist ("dendro," meaning tree; "chrono," meaning time) and climate scientist Daniel Griffin helped me bring vivid detail to one of those records: a long, pencil-thin core taken from a Douglas fir tree on the steep slopes of Mount Pinos in Southern California. Our visualization of the tree's roughly 500 years of life shows why ancient trees are vital to our understanding of how dramatically the burning of fossil fuels has disrupted the climate. |
Much of what we know about the rapidly changing climate of today is premised on information about the past. It feels strangely intimate to find that evidence within very old trees. The imagery that Griffin and his team have collected is incredibly rich and offers a fascinating look at a hidden world. |
But the rings also speak to the danger these trees are in today. This megadrought is marked by many years with thin, atrophied rings — if they're marked at all. Since the turn of the century, dry conditions have met rising temperatures. Heat exacerbates the problem: Hotter air sucks more moisture out of the soil. |
This double whammy of hot and dry is becoming more common today than before, and trees are struggling to survive under these harsh conditions. |
I hope you take a look and read the story. We can all learn something from the memories of trees. |
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