Ascending One of the World's Oldest, Tallest Trees for Science and the Views
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ascending-one-of-the-worlds-oldest-tallest-trees-for-science-and-the-views [www.atlasobscura.com]
2016-12-05 02:07
Since 2011, drought and pestilence have killed more than 100 million trees in California. What does that mean for the fate of the world’s largest tree, the giant sequoia?
“I remember this tree, for sure,” someone chirps, a sentiment that seems more appropriate as an epitaph on a lost hiker’s headstone than as a vote of directional confidence.
One of four redwood species, the giant sequoia is not the world’s tallest tree; that crown belongs to its northern cousin, the coast redwood. But in terms of sheer volume of biomass, no living organism ever to walk, swim, fly, or stand on this planet comes close.