GIZMODO - While some Joshua trees will hang on if humans rapidly lower their carbon emissions, if no action is taken to stop climate change we’ll lose nearly all of these iconic spiky trees, which only live in the area near southern California’s Joshua Tree National Park.
Published in the journal Ecosphere in June, the study combines on-the-ground observations with climate models to determine that a worst-case scenario where we continue with business-as-usual emissions would result in just 0.02 percent of the trees’ current range remaining in Joshua Tree National Park between 2070 and 2099. Even if we do all we can to mitigate climate change, only 18.6 percent of the trees’ original habitat would remain, the researchers found. Rising temperatures, worsening drought, and a loss of groundwater spell serious trouble for this tree.
They found out that young trees were already reacting to the changing desert conditions: They’ve been moving to higher, cooler climates in the national park, where more groundwater is available. Seedlings can’t store as much water as their older counterparts, an ability that allows Joshua trees to live up to 300 years, said Jules Bernstein, the senior public information officer for the University of California at Riverside, whose researchers helped conduct the study, to Earther. That means seedlings need more water in the ground, and such areas aren’t as common as they once were.