Turns Out Joshua Trees Are Fine After All

Over several months during fall and winter, dozens of volunteers fanned out across the Mojave Desert in search of the smallest Joshua tree they could find.

They were part of a project to determine whether Joshua Tree National Park will lose its namesake plants to global warming within the next century — a problem that park officials have been grappling with.

Previous studies painted a dire picture about the Joshua trees’ future. But scientist Cameron Barrows found the park’s plants are better adapted to handle drought and are less likely to give up so easily; he expects them to be reproducing in the park 100 years from now.

http://www.vvdailypress.com/

About Tony Heller

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4 Responses to Turns Out Joshua Trees Are Fine After All

  1. suyts says:

    Wow, that’s weird. Trees thriving in a desert are better adapted to handle drought. Who would have thought?

  2. omnologos says:

    is there no penalty for raising false alarms, in the US?

  3. Andy Weiss says:

    Joshua trees are very intelligent. Probably more so than most climate scientists. They can go up, down, north and south. So, they will somehow find a way to survive.

  4. Al Gored says:

    Darn! I was just gearing up for my big ‘Save the Joshua trees’ campaign, which was going to be a big fundraiser. That was supposed to finance my ‘research’ down there next winter, as well as cover all the costs necessary to support that vital project, as well as the high overhead associated with saving the world.

    And under my plan, the costs were going to necessarily skyrocket. But it is worth it to save the planet. Only a planet-hater wouldn’t give me cash.

    Could help save the pika I guess but they live in the mountains just above me and they just don’t seem that endangered or stressed… I guess they just don’t realize what is happening to them. Stupid pikas can’t even understand simple graphs.

    But after this winter I feel compelled to monitor climate change and save something in a warmer place next winter… for the children.

    Are their still some doomed lizards down there I could help save? I could bring an umbrella and provide them with shade… possibly a cool drink…

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