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‘Extremely Rare Phenomenon’ Reported Among Centuries-Old Cacti In Arizona Desert
Yahoo News ^ | 5-30-2021 | Mark Price

Posted on 05/30/2021 5:11:03 AM PDT by blam

A hint of crazy things to come may be playing out in the Arizona desert — and it involves a giant species of cactus.

Saguaros, which can live for centuries and grow to nearly 80 feet, have erupted in spring blooms that are spreading far beyond the norm. It’s almost as if the plants are breaking out in a rash of blooms.

This is happening in the Sonoran Desert and experts suspect it may be an example of how the warming environment is impacting even the oldest of plants.

A rare phenomenon is unfolding in Arizona: Saguaros cacti, which live centuries, have erupted in blooms that are spreading across their bodies like a rash.

“Tucson residents are witnessing an extremely rare phenomenon: saguaro blooms are literally busting out all over,” the Sonoran Desert Network & Desert Research Learning Center reported May 26 on Facebook.

“Saguaros typically bloom in spring. And when they do, the blooms are usually confined to a crown at the very top of the main body or mature arms,” the center wrote. “But after an unseasonal bloom last fall, saguaro flowers are now appearing down the length of main stems and arms, and — remarkably — even on small buds.”

The odd behavior takes on added significance given the saguaro’s long life span.

“An adult saguaro is generally considered to be about 125 years of age,” the National Park Service reports. “The average life span of a saguaro is probably 150-175 years of age. However, biologists believe that some plants may live over 200 years.”

Saguaro are considered to be a “symbol of the American west,” yet they are rare, NPS officials say.

(snip)

(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: arizona; bats; cacti; cactus; desert
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Not unheard of before but now it's claimed to be caused by climate change.
1 posted on 05/30/2021 5:11:03 AM PDT by blam
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To: blam

What a bunch of idiots. It has been much cooler this year than last year. Even the local news pointed out earlier this month that at the same time last year we had 14 days over 100 than this year the same time. A significant difference in “warming” and comfort, as anything below 100 out here is wonderful.


2 posted on 05/30/2021 5:14:36 AM PDT by Caipirabob (Communists...Socialists...Fascists & AntiFa...Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: blam

just nature doing what nature does, but very cool.


3 posted on 05/30/2021 5:16:15 AM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: blam
...experts suspect it may be an example of how the warming environment is impacting even the oldest of plants.

There's that wiggle-room word, may, again.

4 posted on 05/30/2021 5:17:47 AM PDT by skr (May God confound the enemy)
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To: blam

ever seen a bobcat on top of a saguaro? I have


5 posted on 05/30/2021 5:18:43 AM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: blam

Lefties put a negative spin on everything.


6 posted on 05/30/2021 5:20:01 AM PDT by Ge0ffrey
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To: blam

This one of those cases were favorable changes in climate are working for a plant rather than the wishes of the woke humans.
I do wish the concept of climate change was not such a divisive term but greed and ego trump good science and policy.


7 posted on 05/30/2021 5:20:45 AM PDT by Liaison (TANSTAAFL)
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To: blam

this will result in more bats...


8 posted on 05/30/2021 5:22:42 AM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: blam

It’s clear proof that the end is near. What is it, 8 years away now?


9 posted on 05/30/2021 5:24:09 AM PDT by coloradan (They're not the mainstream media, they're the gaslight media. It's what they do. )
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To: blam

Haven’t seen it before so therefore it’s global warming. Morons


10 posted on 05/30/2021 5:24:50 AM PDT by stuck_in_new_orleans ( )
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To: Ge0ffrey
Lefties put a negative spin on everything.

Every lefty I have ever known is miserable.

And they want everyone else to be miserable too.

11 posted on 05/30/2021 5:25:04 AM PDT by HandBasketHell
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To: Caipirabob

Must be the cooling affecting them then. 8>)


12 posted on 05/30/2021 5:28:24 AM PDT by Robert DeLong
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To: blam
I noticed this this spring, in a retirement community where there are lots of saguaro cacti.

I presumed the cacti had been getting plenty of water and the conditions were just right...

13 posted on 05/30/2021 5:29:24 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries. )
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To: mylife
ever seen a bobcat on top of a saguaro?

That's a sure sign that the earth is warming due to man producing a green house effect. Let me explain. The dessert floor is getting so hot that the bobcat needs to find a perch where he can cool his paws. All these green house gases causing the extreme heat on the dessert floor are the result of Trump policies. After we get rid of all fossil fuel motors, turbines etc. the earth will revert back to temperatures that have remained absolutely constant for thousands of years!! --- sarc!!

14 posted on 05/30/2021 5:31:23 AM PDT by JesusIsLord
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To: Ge0ffrey

Exactly.

Or maybe it is COOLING which is allowing for blooms.

Idiot leftists- they pulled that Ice Age BS when I was a little girl, scaring me to death when we got a snowstorm.

Not too long ago, those brainwashed kids were storming everywhere demanding something be done about climate change because we are all going to die in 10 years.


15 posted on 05/30/2021 5:32:48 AM PDT by Cowgirl of Justice
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To: blam

During Dessert Shield/Storm/Clean up there were 100 or 500 year rainstorms, 8+ hour rains, that wracked the peninsula. The dessert exploded with flora and the deep dessert regions looked as green as Ireland in the spring. It was weird to see the confused camels standing in grass as far as you could see.


16 posted on 05/30/2021 5:33:40 AM PDT by Liaison (TANSTAAFL)
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To: blam

The Desert Blooms....... as a result of more water


17 posted on 05/30/2021 5:35:03 AM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12) History: Pelosi was pitiful vindictive California crone)
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To: bert

Eggzactly!


18 posted on 05/30/2021 5:37:44 AM PDT by texanyankee
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To: HandBasketHell

Every lefty I have ever known is miserable.

And they want everyone else to be miserable too.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I haven’t thought very much about this as I try not to think of oxygen consumers on the left. But as I do consider your point it is virtually 100% spot-on.


19 posted on 05/30/2021 5:37:56 AM PDT by mund1011
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To: blam

Soon the range of the saguaro cactus will encompass all of North America!


20 posted on 05/30/2021 5:39:26 AM PDT by texanyankee
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