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Global warming: Western U.S. feels the heat
DUBOIS, Wyo. -- As pilot Bruce Gordon lifts up from the local airport, the distant perspective of the Teton Range raises the spirits, but the unfolding sight of dying forests sears the soul.
High-elevation white bark pines, which have endured droughts and lightning and insect attacks in life spans as long as 1,000 years, are being killed by a tiny beetle whose numbers were once limited by a bitter winter climate.
"What you are seeing is a natural process on steroids: All these trees will be toast unless the pace of global warming is drastically slowed," said Diana Tombeck, a University of Colorado-Denver professor. She studies white bark pine and calls it "a foundation species."
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