California Fire News - Updates in your mail box

USGS Report: Tree Deaths Have Doubled Across the Western U.S Posted: 24 Jan 2009 11:37 PM PST Tree Deaths Have Doubled Across the Western U.S. -- Regional Warming May be the Cause Tree death rates have more than doubled over the last few decades in old-growth forests of the western United States, and the most probable cause of the worrisome trend is regional warming, according to a U.S. Geological Survey-led (USGS) study published in Science on January 23. The study found that the increase in dying trees has been pervasive. Tree death rates have increased across a wide variety of forest types, at all elevations, in trees of all sizes, and in pines, firs, hemlocks, and other kinds of trees. Red fir, Sequoia National Park, California. Photo credit: Nate Stephenson, U.S. Geological Survey. (Larger image) Regardless of the cause, higher tree death rates ultimately could lead to substantial changes in western forests, said Phil van Mantgem, a USGS scientist and co-leader of the research team. Such changes, the team noted, can have cascading effects, such as by changing forest suitability for wildlife species. Additionally, increasing tree mortality rates mean that western forests could become net sources of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, further speeding up the pace of global warming. "The same way that in any group of people a small number will die each year, in any forest a small number of trees die each year," said van Mantgem. "But our long-term monitoring shows that tree mortality has been climbing, while the establishment of replacement trees has not." The result is that forests have begun to lose trees faster than they're gaining them, said van Mantgem. The study's authors ruled out a number of possible sources of the increasing tree deaths, including air pollution, long-term effects of fire suppression, and normal forest dynamics. In contrast, increasing regional temperature was correlated with tree deaths. "Average temperature in the West rose by more than 1° F over the last few decades," said van Mantgem. "While this may not sound like much, it has been enough to reduce winter snowpack, cause earlier snowmelt, and lengthen the summer drought." The lengthening summer drought could be stressing trees, leading to higher death rates, he said. Warmer temperatures also might favor insects and diseases that attack trees. Some recent outbreaks of tree-killing bark beetles in the West have already been linked to warming temperatures. "Tree death rates are like interest on a bank account - the effects compound over time," said Nate Stephenson, also with the U.S. Geological Survey and research team co-leader. "A doubling of death rates eventually could reduce average tree age in a forest by half, thus reducing average tree size." In some cases, increasing tree deaths could indicate forests vulnerable to sudden, extensive die-back, similar to forest die-back seen over the last few years in parts of the southwestern states, Colorado, and British Columbia. "That may be our biggest concern," said Stephenson. "Is the trend we're seeing a prelude to bigger, more abrupt changes to our forests?" Source: USGS Newsroom - Link

Weather alert: Severe thunderstorm - Tehama County Posted: 24 Jan 2009 05:34 PM PST THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SACRAMENTO HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... CENTRAL TEHAMA COUNTY IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA... * UNTIL 530 PM PST * AT 500 PM PST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING PENNY SIZE HAIL.THIS STORM WAS LOCATED OVER CENTRAL TEHAMA COUNTY...OR ABOUT 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF RED BLUFF...AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... HIGHWAY 99 NORTH OF LOS MOLINOS AT 510 PM PST Area: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA Affected Counties or parts of: Tehama County

Weather alert: Severe thunderstorm - Butte County Posted: 24 Jan 2009 04:54 PM PST THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SACRAMENTO HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... WEST CENTRAL BUTTE COUNTY IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA... EAST CENTRAL GLENN COUNTY IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA... * UNTIL 415 PM PST * AT 336 PM PST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING PENNY SIZE HAIL.THIS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR BUTTE CITY...OR ABOUT 11 MILES EAST OF WILLOWS...AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 5 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... CODORA 345 PM PST GLENN AT 350 PM PST Instruction: IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...HEAVY RAIN IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM AS WELL AS FREQUENT LIGHTNING. MOVE INDOORS IMMEDIATELY! LIGHTNING IS ONE OF NATURES NUMBER ONE KILLERS. REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. Area: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO CA Affected Counties or parts of: Butte, Glenn Sent: 2009-01-24T15:42:15-08:00

Earthquake: 3.2 M - Telescope Peak, CA Posted: 24 Jan 2009 12:39 PM PST Magnitude 3.2 - CENTRAL CALIFORNIA Earthquake map Earthquake Details Magnitude 3.2 Date-Time Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 18:08:38 UTC Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 10:08:38 AM at epicenter Location 36.085°N, 117.136°W Depth 10.6 km (6.6 miles) Region CENTRAL CALIFORNIA Distances 10 km (6 miles) SSW (205°) from Telescope Peak, CA 41 km (26 miles) NNE (31°) from Trona, CA 42 km (26 miles) NNE (32°) from Searles Valley, CA 71 km (44 miles) NE (43°) from Ridgecrest, CA 172 km (107 miles) W (267°) from Las Vegas, NV Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 0.4 km (0.2 miles); depth +/- 1.8 km (1.1 miles) Parameters Nph=024, Dmin=25 km, Rmss=0.24 sec, Gp= 65°, M-type=local magnitude (ML), Version=C Source California Integrated Seismic Net: USGS Caltech CGS UCB UCSD UNR Event ID ci10373189

You are subscribed to email updates from California Fire News - Structure, Wildland, EMS To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Inbox too full? Subscribe to the feed version of California Fire News - Structure, Wildland, EMS in a feed reader.
If you prefer to unsubscribe via postal mail, write to: California Fire News - Structure, Wildland, EMS, c/o Google, 20 W Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610