Climate change and global warming have been changing the Earth. Much of the environment has been affected by these changes. Some places have experienced much warmth, such as drought in parts of California. Drought in California has killed 100 million trees and could affect even more.
An aerial survey made by the US Forest Service has been made, which identified a total of 36 million additional trees that have been affected by drought. This has brought to around 102 million trees that have already died because of it since 2010. Around 7.7 million acres of land has been affected by drought.
The present situation is hardly any better, as 62 million trees have died this year. That's said to be a 100 percent increase over the numbers last year. The future doesn't seem to be that good either, as it is expected that an additional number of trees would die due to weakness in the coming years.
One issue that should be addressed is the budget. The US Forest Service had its budget diverted to fighting forest fires. However, budget for forest rehabilitation has been affected. This limited budget along with climate change are challenges that is faced by the US Forest Service in getting much of the forests back to health, as Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack noted.
With the dead trees around, there is much more risk of forest fires. The dead trees are dry, which can add fuel to forest fires. Vilsack said that the USDA has made it a priority to remove fuel for forest fires, though there is a need for Congress to provide the budget in restoring many of the forests back to their healthy state.
Many of the dead trees are in 10 counties in the southern and the central Sierra Nevada region, according to the US Forest Service's site. The northern part of the state is also being affected. Some of the reasons why the trees are dying are severe drought, beetle bark infestation and rising temperatures. California has a record number of wildfires this year as well.
With a combination of extreme fire behavior, a longer fire season and development near protected areas, the budget needed to restore many of the forests are being restricted, as Science Daily reports. Fire management already took up 56 percent of the budget last year. That cost is expected to rise in the years to come, which would further lessen the budget needed to actually restore forests.
The trend of trees dying due to drought will continue until 2017. Drought in California has killed 100 million trees, and that number is expected to rise. Climate change is still ongoing, as carbon dioxide levels rise in part due to the soil adding to it.
