Posted on 03/09/2025 11:05:49 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
A recent discovery in the Rocky Mountains has given scientists an extraordinary look into the past, but it comes with an unsettling reminder of the effects of climate change. A 5,900-year-old forest was found preserved under ice at Wyoming’s Beartooth Plateau, offering valuable insight into ancient ecosystems. This remarkable find, detailed in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, underscores the impact of warming temperatures. The forest was uncovered as ice patches melted, further highlighting the growing threat of rising global temperatures to high-elevation ecosystems.
Ancient Trees Uncovered After Millennia
During an archaeological survey, scientists found 30 whitebark pine trees in an exceptional state of preservation. Radiocarbon dating confirmed their age, ranging from 5,440 to 5,950 years old. The trees were discovered 180 meters above the current tree line, suggesting that when they were alive, temperatures were warm enough to support forests at much higher elevations.
This discovery reshapes our understanding of the Rocky Mountains’ past climate. It also confirms that tree lines have shifted dramatically over thousands of years, responding to long-term environmental changes.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
They certainly hinted at it:
"...but it comes with an unsettling reminder of the effects of climate change"
The last ice age ended 11,000 to 12,000 years ago. It’s been warming up ever since. So how did it get cold enough 6,000 years ago to bury those trees in snow and ice? Was there another “Little ice age” 6,00 years ago?
It must have been moist enough for the trees to grow. Will the trees retain the water? (If there’s rain instead of snow?)
Oh sure; trees will retain enough moisture to keep themselves alive between rain showers and sometimes they can tap into an underground aquifer if it's shallow enough and it's roots are deep enough. I was speaking more in terms of the water that the mountain snowpacks provide to the regions below the mountains.
Right....so if there’s rain instead of snow in the mountains, the valleys won’t get the water? Or if they do get it, they’ll get too much of it?
We’ve been to a USFS campgrounds in that region and the mosquitos were so thick you’d swear it was fog. Roll the window down and they attack like piranha. You’d need a flame thrower to clear the campsite, so we moved on.
question...what caused the forest to be frozen under ice in the first place?? Climate change, right?
They'll get too much of it all at once, sometimes with flooding, and washing away valuable topsoil, and overflowing reservoirs. With a snowpack, it is preserved longer and there is more of a steady supply that can be channeled and distributed where it needs to go.
Do you want Triffids because this is how you get Triffids.
If only there were some way to build barriers to hold back a portion of this runoff rainwater for later use.
I was reading about WhiteBarked Pines around Crater Lake being endangered. Looks like the eruption of Mt. Mazama killed a lot of them, hundreds of miles, and thousands of years, away.
I asked Grok if this “reporter” received grants for environmental reporting. Further questions revealed:
“So, to answer directly: There’s no robust, confirmed record of “Melissa Ait Lounis” being a reporter based on standard definitions (e.g., someone who gathers and presents news through firsthand investigation or interviews).”
Just thought that was interesting.
“ The forest was uncovered as ice patches melted, further highlighting the growing threat of rising global temperatures to high-elevation ecosystems.” These brilliant statements baffle me. I cannot grasp which way the harm is occurring. Is the warning about how a cooling globe kills off forest? Or is it a warming globe melts ice and allows trees to grow?
So the growing threat of rising temperatures seems to be that it is a return to a previous temperature. In other words rising temperatures will allow trees to grow on newly defrosted ground where trees were previously being grown before it got very very cold.
They’re called “reservoirs”.
So it’s a fake name?
Actually, the barriers I referred to are called “dams”. But thanks for playing.
And the dams have reservoirs behind them. It would pretty stupid to have a dam without a reservoir. Thanks for playing.
Thank you, Captain Obvious. Impressive depth of knowledge there.
Same to you.
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