Buildings,pollution, poor soil, insects, and even car crashes can add to tree lo-组卷网

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Buildings, pollution, poor soil, insects, and even car crashes can add to tree loss. However, between 2016 and 2021, the city of Seattle in Washington state was reported to have lost about 255 hectares of tree covering, for which climate change was blamed. Then came the driest summer on Seattle’s record books in 2022. The drier conditions and hotter temperatures have left many trees with brown leaves, naked branches, and extreme seeding. These are all signs of tree stress.

According to Nicholas Johnson, a tree expert for Seattle City Parks, if this warming climate continues we are going to have a lot of trees die. Just like people, under the heat trees get weak.

Researchers from France and Australia studied the effect of hotter temperatures and less rain on more than 3,100 trees and plants in 164 cities across 78 countries. They found about half the trees in the cities were experiencing climate conditions beyond their limits. They also found that by 2050 nearly all trees planted in Australian cities will not survive.

It’s not the gradual change but these extreme swings of too much water, too little water, too much wind, and terrible storms that are going to cause these rapid changes. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed about 10 percent of the trees in New Orleans, Louisiana. And in 2021, Hurricane Ida uprooted many new tree plantings.

To settle the problem of tree loss, non-native trees have been brought to cities for some time. In the city of Bellevue, Washington, experts are growing different kinds of trees specifically for climate change. On city grounds, they are planting baby giant sequoias, just a few centimeters tall. The giant sequoias are not native to the Pacific Northwest area. But the trees can deal with the lack of rain and insects. Once these trees are established, they grow incredibly fast. Having many different kinds and ages of trees is important to keeping urban forests alive.

“Life always finds a way,” said Nicholas Johnson. “And in Seattle, people are helping life find a way.”

【小题1】What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A．The bad condition of trees in Seattle.

B．The terrible climate in Seattle in recent years.

C．Natural reasons for tree loss.

D．The signs of tree stress.

【小题2】What is endangering the trees in Australia cities?