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http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/03/old-tree-gallery/all/1?npu=1&mbid=yhp
Nevada has two state trees, the Single Leaf Pinon Pine and the Bristlecone Pine. Individual specimens of the Bristlecone are thought to be the oldest single living things on earth, although several species of cloning trees have older specimens as mentioned in the article above.
In our group, we all pretty much fanboy the landscape of the western US. The body was raised in Ely, NV which is near the largest Bristlecone forest, and we've spent many holidays wandering around those desolate mountains collecting garnets and sitting on the roots of trees that pre-date the roman empire.
It's a humbling place, although much of the landscape of the west is humbling. For example, the redwood forests of California, or the Pando grove. We've never been to Pando, but we've visited what's believed to be in the top five oldest Aspen groves. It's estimated age was about 40,000 years old.
It's depressing to think that in a hundred years all of these great trees might be dead, if encroaching civilization and the current pollution and climate change trends continue unabated. How sad to think that a living organism that's been alive longer than humanity has been in existence is being threatened by a single species gone out of control.
I've decided I'm going to redo my astronomy write-up. I've been itching to tackle this project for awhile and I'm becoming increasingly aware of the general ignorance we have as a society about subjects that are critically important. I'll start with my run-down of the Solar System. If it goes well, I'll move on to other subjects. Wish me luck.
Nevada has two state trees, the Single Leaf Pinon Pine and the Bristlecone Pine. Individual specimens of the Bristlecone are thought to be the oldest single living things on earth, although several species of cloning trees have older specimens as mentioned in the article above.
In our group, we all pretty much fanboy the landscape of the western US. The body was raised in Ely, NV which is near the largest Bristlecone forest, and we've spent many holidays wandering around those desolate mountains collecting garnets and sitting on the roots of trees that pre-date the roman empire.
It's a humbling place, although much of the landscape of the west is humbling. For example, the redwood forests of California, or the Pando grove. We've never been to Pando, but we've visited what's believed to be in the top five oldest Aspen groves. It's estimated age was about 40,000 years old.
It's depressing to think that in a hundred years all of these great trees might be dead, if encroaching civilization and the current pollution and climate change trends continue unabated. How sad to think that a living organism that's been alive longer than humanity has been in existence is being threatened by a single species gone out of control.
I've decided I'm going to redo my astronomy write-up. I've been itching to tackle this project for awhile and I'm becoming increasingly aware of the general ignorance we have as a society about subjects that are critically important. I'll start with my run-down of the Solar System. If it goes well, I'll move on to other subjects. Wish me luck.
