On an unrelated note, the best comment reply ever:
"Why do you assume that the experts missed a plan that some random guy on the Internet came up with in 30 seconds?"
Scientists say sudden oak death epidemic is no longer stoppable
91–100 of 147 posts
Re: Scientists say sudden oak death epidemic is no longer stoppable
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think anyone is trying to blame someone for this.. Absolutely this is nature taking its course, but we happen to like oak trees so it might make sense that we would try and protect them.
But it no longer makes sense, since the scientists have already said that it's unstoppable. So dumping more money into trying to protect them seems like a waste of money, no?
Giving up is a very poor plan. Dead trees make wildfires much much worse. California wildfires are terrible as it is.
Re: Scientists say sudden oak death epidemic is no longer stoppable
#93Hawaii island is dealing with a fungal pathogen that impacts the most abundant native tree similarly: http://www2.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry/disease/ohia_wilt.html .
Don't worry, soon humans will have destroyed all habitats. We're working really hard, but we can't get to it all at once.
Re: Scientists say sudden oak death epidemic is no longer stoppable
#94They could just as way say: "Scientists say the evolution of the natural landscape is no longer stoppable"
It's curious that so much 'evolution' is going on at the moment. Interesting how the Great Barrier Reef and the oceans fisheries are currently 'evolving' Rather remiscent of how the Western European population evolved in response to the plague.
That's the fun of natural selection, sometimes you get selected, sometimes you don't.
Re: Scientists say sudden oak death epidemic is no longer stoppable
#95>while there may once have been a chance to stop the spread of $ARTICLE_TOPIC — around the year $CURRENT_DATE_MINUS_FIFTEEN_YEARS — that opportunity has since passed. Forces didn’t mobilize fast enough or spend enough money FTA, with minor edits; I think we'll see a lot more language like this in the coming ten years. The consequence, which absolutely no one would be against ("what do you mean, there's 90% fewer oak…
The comparison to massive die-outs in coral reefs is not very apt, because those often represent the destruction of entire ecosystems and of great natural beauty that is mostly irreplaceable. Whereas, while certain species of oaks being wiped out is sad and disrupts other parts of the ecosystem, it also doesn't represent total devestation. Other oaks survive, dozens of other tree species will thrive in the niche left behind by these trees.
And as we've only recently come to grips with the ecological benefits of forest fires, I expect we'll also eventually learn that not all invasive species represent irreversible ecological disaster, and that they actually play an important role in encouraging the spread of new variants that we didn't realize were going to be beautiful and useful to us.
In other words, Life... uh... finds a way.
Re: Scientists say sudden oak death epidemic is no longer stoppable
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
Climate change is putting stress on ecosystems that causes them to change more rapidly than they have in the past. You could go back in history and find similar things, but you'd be hard pressed to go back in history and find as many things happening at the same time .
> Climate change is putting stress on ecosystems that causes them to change more rapidly than they have in the past. Is it? You keep reading this story and that story about how this crop failed, or changed or whatever, and they always blame climate change. Then you check and see - oh yah, that also happened in this year and that year. Climate change is becoming like dark energy - blame absolutely everything you don't…
And that attitude is why society isn't going to adjust in enough time to avoid a whole bunch of extinction and ecosystem collapse.
Re: Scientists say sudden oak death epidemic is no longer stoppable
#97Five hundred years ago, Spaniards spread the seeds of european annual grasses as they traveled between missions in California. Within a century or two, a large part of the California landscape had changed. Annual grasses crowded out native perennial grasses, and we got our "golden hills." Nobody knows exactly what California looked like before the Spanish arrived or how many species may have gone extinct, but you can…
Not plant related, but equally fascinating: There used to be a lake bigger than Lake Tahoe in California between Fresno and Bakersfield. It It was the largest fresh water lake west of the Great Lakes (by surface area). It was drained for agriculture. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulare_Lake
I would highly recommend "Cadillac Desert: The American West and its Disappearing Water;" it goes into fair detail about Lake Tulare. Fascinating read.
Re: Scientists say sudden oak death epidemic is no longer stoppable
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's partly correct and partly incorrect. It's incorrect in the claim that the government withheld the potato supply. The potato crop massively failed due to potato blight. The government had nothing to do with the potato shortage. This was not just in Ireland, but also through Europe. It was more significant in Ireland, though, because something like 40% of the population depended on potatoes for most of their nut…
Similar to how the English colonial tyrants killed millions of Indians by exporting crops during a famine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_of_1876%E2%80%937...
Same tyrants. By the time of the potato famine Ireland was unified with Great Britain, "this was achieved through a considerable degree of bribery, with funding provided by the British Secret Service Office, and the awarding of peerages, places and honours to secure votes."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland#Union_with_Great_Brita...
Re: Scientists say sudden oak death epidemic is no longer stoppable
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
See also: the eucalyptus tree which was brought to CA in the 1800s and spread rapidly before everyone realized that young trees are useless for timber [0][1] Here on the Central Coast, there are eucalyptus groves everywhere (some are massive). They are messy, a fire hazard, and useless for firewood. 0. http://www.independent.com/news/2011/jan/15/how-eucalyptus-c... 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus#North_Am…
Slowly they are being eradicated. People in the East Bay are going apeshit over FEMA's plans to knock down ~10,000 eucalyptus in order to restore native vegetation and prevent a(nother) disastrous fire in the Oakland hills. On the other hand they seem to be very popular in Napa and along the 101 as windbreaks. Maybe we'll never get rid of them.
A bunch of Eucalyptus trees lining the streets along the hills bordering 280 have been removed over the last 5 years.
I was sad at first from seeing these trees I grew up with go away, but then my friend educated me about the invasive nature of the trees, and now that a few years have passed since the first wave of removals in my neighborhood, I can say that I've become accustomed to the new sights.
Re: Scientists say sudden oak death epidemic is no longer stoppable
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
See also: the eucalyptus tree which was brought to CA in the 1800s and spread rapidly before everyone realized that young trees are useless for timber [0][1] Here on the Central Coast, there are eucalyptus groves everywhere (some are massive). They are messy, a fire hazard, and useless for firewood. 0. http://www.independent.com/news/2011/jan/15/how-eucalyptus-c... 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus#North_Am…
As an Australian I find the CA eucalyptus very nostalgic. They are most certainly a fire hazard, but I am surprised to learn that they are considered useless for firewood. Here in Australia the best firewood is eucalyptus - it is a bastard to split though.
Yeah, it can work as firewood for heat if its thoroughly dried (1+ year). You have to split it before it dries.
I guess I should clarify my previous post. Most people in CA don't burn wood for heat. I was specifically referring to burning wood for cooking (aka Santa Maria Style BBQ). For that, oak is superior and eucalyptus is a no-go.