Source: CAROLINA PUBLIC PRESS, 5/23/22


Editor’s note: This article is part 1 of the five-part in-depth series Fraught Forests from Carolina Public Press, which examines the challenges of climate change for Western North Carolina’s mountain forests.

Unusual periods of drought, with heightened risk for wildfires, damage the health of Blue Ridge Mountain forests in Western North Carolina. At the opposite extreme, intense rainfall events cause erosion, landslides, flooding and other damage to forests and surrounding areas.  When these erratic cycles follow one another with greater frequency and intensity, along with extreme swings in hot and cold temperatures, the forest ecology experiences a destabilizing whipsaw effect. 

For more of this story, click here.