Trees in Western States and Canada dying faster than the rest

The forests in the western United States and Canada are dying at an alarming rate, according to a study published today, and this is a trend that they are linking directly to global warming. The study says that the trees could turn into carbon-dioxide emitters rather than carbon-dioxide collectors.

The mortality rate has more than doubled in the past twenty years and every tree seems to be effected, regardless of elevation, type or species, and the old-growth forests are dying faster than the new trees are growing.

The decomposition of a dead tree releases carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere.
The trees that were studied for this report were in Oregon, Washington, California, Arizona, Colarado, New Mexico and British Columbia. Some of the trees were found to be more than 1,000 years old.
What they found was the death rate in the Pacific Northwest had doubled.
Dr. Nathan Stephenson, of the US Geological Survey described this as 'a canary in a coal mine'.

Researchers found that temperature is the biggest culprit of why this is happening.
The temperature in the western United States has increased at about 0.3 degrees to 0.4 degrees Celcius every ten years, which means that the seasons are changing as well. Warm weather allows beetles and insects, such as the Pine Beetle, to thrive, and they affect the rate of forest growth as well.
The risk of forest fires also increases when the temperature is warmer, meaning more carbon-dioxide will be released into the atmosphere anyway and the trees will die quicker.