1 May 2012

Pine Beetles Taking Advantage of Warming Climate?

Posted by Dan Satterfield

 

A common scene in Colorado and much of the Mountain West. Dan's pic.

I was shocked to see the extent of the pine beetle damage on my last two trips to Colorado. There seems to be growing evidence this latest infestation is being aided (perhaps greatly) by the warming climate. It seems that the extra 15 days above freezing each spring are allowing two generations of beetles per year.  The result is a lot of dead trees. This may be a good example of how our great carbon increasing experiment with the atmosphere can have unexpected consequences…

 

Click to read the CU press release: