Opinion - Letters to the Editor

POSTED: Saturday, Nov. 29, 2008

Says climate change causes beetle problem

I was very happy to see an article in The Bellingham Herald addressing the Pine Beetle infestation affecting Colorado's Rocky Mountains.

I recently moved to Bellingham from Colorado. It is common knowledge in Colorado that the Pine Beetle populations that have been killing the forests for the last five-to-10 years are doing so because of climate change. The Pine Beetle's body creates a kind of antifreeze in late fall that allows it to weather the cold. In order to kill off these populations, temperatures need to reach below freezing for a minimum of three weeks. In the past several years these mountain forests have not had temperatures low enough for long enough. It is a documented direct result of climate change.

Colorado is not the only victim of this infestation. The Rockies, up into Canada, Eastern Washington and Alaskan forests are all under attack. The beetle's infestation is turning thousands of acres of pine forests brown, making them a possible major fire hazard.

This should be a wake up call to everyone in our nation; the effects of climate change are not just felt in the North Pole, but in our own back yard. Imagine; the Rocky Mountains up in smoke.

Nora Weaver

Bellingham