http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/09/01/0901trees.html
(...)
"Arborists and foresters say trees throughout Central Texas, even native species such as live oak and hackberry, have succumbed after being ravaged by the long drought and intense summer heat.
"I have not seen it to this extent in my lifetime," said Jim Houser of the Texas Forest Service. "We're even seeing cedars (Ashe junipers) dying. They can exist on sunbaked, rocky plantscapes. And we're seeing them die all over the place."
"Walter Passmore, the City of Austin's urban forester, said hundreds of the city's estimated 300,000 trees have died this summer. The city this month plans to cut down 49 trees in Zilker Park that officials say were killed by the drought.
"And Don Gardner, an arborist who runs a consulting company in Austin, said he's had so many calls about sick trees that it's difficult to keep up with the work.
"Many of our well-established, well-adapted native trees are dying," Gardner said. "From last year to this year, it's really kicking in."
"Houser said the death of a tree is usually attributable to a number of factors, among them disease and insects. Stress from the drought and heat is often the fatal blow, he said.
"However, he said, many of the trees dying lately appear to have been in good condition.
"Apparently completely healthy, vibrant oaks are going down," Houser said. "There is just absolutely no water in the soil. There's just no water there." ...
(((Meanwhile, in and near Los Angeles:)))
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/31/the-los-angeles-fire.html
*R Crumb cartoon of the future, WHOLE EARTH REVIEW, 1979. That was
thirty years ago. I saw that cartoon when it first appeared, and I thought,
"Yeah, give it time, and that's a distinct possibility."
*Thirty years, that's how long I've been listening to climate denialists. They don't have the
multi-decade record of Creationists yet, but they're getting there. If they were prospering, that would be one thing, but every year they get poorer and more frightened. I'm gonna live to see climate denialists in climate refugee camps.
*Got some more smoky brain candy here. I wish I could say that any of this
stuff surprises me. It sure doesn't:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8231387.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8229944.stm
*Let them eat denial:
http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/crop-yields-could-wilt-heat/
