- California wildfires have killed between 13% and 19% of all giant sequoias in the last two years.
- The giant sequoias have long lived with fire, which has been critical in maintaining healthy forests.
- But a new report from the National Park Service details the toll of recent fires.
Lightning-sparked wildfires in California have killed thousands of giant sequoias over the past 14 months, destroying anywhere from 13% to 19% of the global population of the tree — which is the world's largest, according to new figures from a National Park Service report.
Giant sequoias are historic trees and can live for more than 3,000 years. The world's largest tree, measured by volume, is the General Sherman Tree, a giant sequoia. It stands 275 feet tall, with its trunk 36 feet in diameter at its base.
Giant sequoias have long lived with fire, which has been critical in maintaining healthy forests, according to the National Park Service.
But recent fires along with the "deadly combination" of forests that are too dense, caused by fire suppression for more than 100 years, and more intense droughts driven by climate change have led to the staggering death toll over the past two years, Clay Jordan, superintendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, told The New York Times.
"The sobering reality is that we have seen another huge loss within a finite population of these iconic trees that are irreplaceable in many lifetimes," Jordan said, according to the Associated Press. "As spectacular as these trees are we really can't take them for granted. To ensure that they're around for our kids and grandkids and great-grandkids, some action is necessary."
In Sequoia National Park and nearby Sequoia National Forest, fires torched between 2,261 to 3,637 sequoias in the southern Sierra Nevada this fall, which have either already been killed or will die within the next three to five years. That represents about 3% to 5% of the world's population of the tree.
The 2020 Castle Fire led to another 10-14% of losses of giant sequoia trees.
Together, the three fires account for losses up to a fifth of the roughly 75,600 sequoias greater than 4 feet in diameter.