Trees Are Dying From ‘No Obvious Cause’ In Rocky Mountains,

I hHeard a report a few minutes ago on scientists investigation whether fire flies are disappearing. I lived in the same place since 1993 (Atlanta suburb), and the question is not whether, by why. I did notice that I didn't see any for several years after the drought. I saw a few earlier this year.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/09/11/3566195/rocky-mountain-trees-risk/

by Ari Phillips Posted on September 11, 2014

The Rocky Mountain forests that traverse the West are under unprecedented danger from climate-related impacts according to a new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization. The Rockies include national parks like Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier National Park, and are facing a “triple assault — tree-killing insects, wildfires, and heat and drought — that could fundamentally alter these forests as we know them.”

According to the report, titled “Rocky Mountain Forests at Risk,” many western trees are dying from “no obvious cause” like the bark beetle epidemic or increasing threat of wildfire, with scientists suggesting that these deaths are due simply to the hotter and drier conditions associated with climate change. The mortality rate for old-growth trees in undisturbed forests has doubled recently, with a sharp increase in recent years, and there’s been no compensating increase in the number of seedlings.

According to National Climate Assessment figures in the report, given very low future carbon emissions, average temperatures in the six Rocky Mountain states could rise to about 3°F above 1971–2000 levels by mid-century. However if emissions remain unchecked, this number could double or triple. In all scenarios, bark beetle infestations are likely to increase, larger wildfires are expected, and early snowmelt and reduced snow cover would lead to water stress.

This would make the climate less suitable for characteristic Rockies’ species, including lodgepole pine, Engelmann spruce, ponderosa pine, and Douglas fir, as well as iconic species including whitebark pine, aspen, and piñon pine.

“These species could be eliminated from much of their current ranges, potentially changing the fundamental makeup and extent of Rocky Mountain forests,” write the authors.

In a statement Stephen Saunders, report co-author and president of RMCO, said that while climate changes have been modest so far “they have already jolted our forests,” and “if we continue changing the climate, we may bring about much more fundamental disruption of these treasured national landscapes.”

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From a comment on the preceding web site:

There is no doubt that climate change will kill trees, as they cannot migrate fast enough. However, that is not what is killing the trees NOW. And there actually IS an obvious reason they are dying prematurely - it is from ordinary, invisible air pollution. The background level of ozone is inexorably rising, and it is highly toxic to vegetation. In addition to shrinking roots, making plants more vulnerable to drought and wind, it causes a loss of natural immunity to biotic pathogens such as insects, disease and fungus, which have become epidemics all over the world, not only in the American west. In fact bark beetles are killing trees in the southeast US, which has become cooler and wetter from climate change. Every species of tree is now in decline from an onslaught of attacks because they are weakened from pollution. This has been well-researched, but rarely is discussed because the only way to stop it is to stop burning fuel.