Climate Change
Throughout their ranges, the redwoods and sequoias are being subjected to the effects of climate change: temperature increases, less coastal fog, reductions in snowpack and earlier annual snowmelt. Climate change will interact with other stressors that the redwoods had never experienced until recently. In addition to the extensive logging that began with the 1849 gold rush, leaving a small fraction of the original coast redwood forest, humans have introduced other stressors to the redwood forest including invasive species, fire suppression, air pollution and habitat fragmentation. Climate change, and its current and projected interactions with these stressors, jeopardizes the redwoods’ ability to survive and thrive into the future. We don’t know yet precisely how climate change will impact the redwood forest, but we must act today to protect redwoods from future threats. Old-growth redwood forests store three to ten times more carbon than any other forest on Earth, making them a huge asset in the fight against climate change. Restoring redwood forests — accelerating development of old-growth characteristics — increases their carbon sequestration and storage abilities (Save the Redwood League 2015). In partnership with researchers from Humboldt State University, UC Berkeley and Natureserve and citizen scientists , groups are studying the impacts of climate change on redwood growth, carbon storage and forest biodiversity through the Redwoods and Climate Change Initiative (RCCI). Results from this research will help focus League efforts regarding where and how to best protect redwood forestland as environmental conditions change (Save the Redwood League 2015).
Courtesy of Save the Redwood League