Of Fires, Forests, and Climate

Crown fire in ponderosa pine forest. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Taylor, USGS.

FORT scientist Craig Allen gave presentations about climate/forest/adaptation issues at two conferences related to climate change and changing forests. At the Aspen Environment Forum 2012, "Living in the New Normal," held 22-25 June in Aspen, Colo., his presentation and associated discussion focused on recent climate-driven forest changes in the southwestern United States. At the partly overlapping "Forests at Risk" symposium, held 25 June (also in Aspen), Dr. Allen's talk addressed in greater detail the patterns and implications of recent increases in severity and extent of climate-related wildfires and tree mortality in the Southwest, along with adaptation options. Dr. Allen's Aspen Environment Forum talk resulted in a blog post by Hillary Rosner in The New York Times 25 June 2012, "Goodbye to Mountain Forests?" The Colorado Independent (26 June) and Yale environment 360 (28 June) also reported on the talks, quoting Dr. Allen. Following these stories, reporters from The Washington Post, ClimateWire, and Greenwire contacted Dr. Allen for articles about how the western U.S. forests are changing, how climate change is altering the landscape and affecting fire behavior and occurrence, the role of drought and beetle kill in these changes, and ecosystem recovery. The ClimateWire story was posted 28 June 2012. On 28-29 June, reporters from the Albuquerque Journal and High Country News also called for interviews, and Christopher Joyce, science reporter for National Public Radio, called to discuss a possible onsite visit in late July or August 2012.

For more information contact: Craig Allen

Of Fires, Forests, and Climate

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