Yosemite National Park

World’s Oldest Trees Dying At Alarming Rate

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According to a disturbing new report, the world’s oldest and largest trees may be dying off — and fast.
The study determined that trees between 100 and 300 years old are perishing “en masse” because of a deadly combination of large destructive events like forest fires, and other, more incremental factors like drought, high temperatures, logging and insect attack. The steady increase in threats means old trees are dying at 10 times their normal rate, researchers concluded. Their study appears in the Dec. 7 issue of the journal Science.

“It’s a worldwide problem and appears to be happening in most types of forest,” explained lead author David B. Lindenmayer, of Australian National University, in a release. “Large old trees are critical in many natural and human-dominated environments.”

The scientists originally discovered a “very, very disturbing trend” while inspecting Swedish forestry records from the 1860s, then realized forests in Australia, California’s Yosemite National Park, the African Savannah, Brazilian rainforests, and other regions of Europe had also suffered large losses of old trees.

Critically, “Big, old trees are not just enlarged young trees,” Jerry F. Franklin of the University of Washington, another of the study’s authors, told the New York Times. “Old trees have idiosyncratic features — a different canopy, different branch systems, a lot of cavities, thicker bark and more heartwood. They provide a lot more habitat and niches.”

They also capture and store significant amounts of carbon, notes The Telegraph, and recycle surrounding soil nutrients, which in turn encourages new growth.

Scientists warn that unless an urgent “world-wide investigation” can assess the loss and create conservation programs with time-frames that span centuries, the world’s oldest trees are gravely imperiled.

 

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com

 

 

 

 

 

Hantavirus Kills Third Yosemite Visitor, Warning Extended to 22,000 People .

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Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome has now been confirmed in eight people who visited Yosemite National Park this summer, three of whom have died, the National Park Service has announced.

Seven of the cases stayed in the park’s Signature Tent Cabins in Curry Village; the eighth lodged in multiple High Sierra Camps — a more remote area of the park. Accordingly, officials have expanded the initial hantavirus warning to a total of 22,000 Yosemite visitors who may have been exposed to the rodent-borne disease since June 10.

The National Park Service notes that the kinds of hantavirus that cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the U.S. cannot be passed from person to person.

Source: National Park Service hantavirus update

 

Brits Warned Over Deadly Rodent Virus.

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Recent UK visitors to Yosemite park in the US are being contacted after an outbreak of a lethal disease spread by rodents.

UK health officials are contacting around 100 Britons they believe could have been exposed to a deadly rodent virus while on holiday in the US this summer.

Six visitors to California’s Yosemite National Park have so far been infected with Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), a disease caused by breathing in infected rodent dropping or urine particles.

Hantavirus kills around 38% of people it infects. Of the six confirmed cases, two men have died.

It is not certain that any of those affected have been British citizens.

In a statement, the UK’s Health Protection Authority (HPA) said: “Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome is a rare but severe respiratory disease, which is sometimes fatal.

“It is spread by contact with infected rodents, primarily deer mice.

“The virus causing HPS in the US cannot be passed from person to person.

“There is no specific treatment for Hantavirus, but early recognition and supportive care can improve the outcome of this severe disease.”

The recent cases have all been associated with people staying in Yosemite National Park’s Signature Tent Cabins in the Boystown area of Curry Village.

Five of the six reported cases are known to have stayed in these cabins.

The HPA is only contacting British citizens known to have done the same, between the identified risk period from June 10 to August 24, 2012.

America’s Centre for Disease Control estimates that around 10,000 travellers from all over the world stayed in the cabins during that time.

Park officials, who last week shut down the popular camping ground, said a design flaw in the cabins allowed mice to get inside the insulated walls.

It is believed the rodents’ faeces, saliva and urine dried out and mixed with dust that was inhaled by visitors staying in the confined spaces.

Eating contaminated food or being bitten by infected rodents can also cause infection.

Tracking the outbreak has been made more difficult by the long incubation period of hantavirus, which can be up to six weeks.

According to the HPA, victims display flu-like symptoms, including fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, fatigue and a cough.

Other symptoms can include nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

The disease can then progress very rapidly, resulting in severe difficulty in breathing as the lungs fill with fluid.

Since the virus was first identified in the USA in 1993 there have been 556 confirmed cases.

 

Source: http://news.sky.com

 

Two Dead from Hantavirus Exposure in Yosemite, 1700 at Risk .

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Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome has been confirmed in three people in the U.S. — likely acquired at Yosemite National Park in June — the National Park Service announced this week. The syndrome is caused by exposure to urine, feces, or saliva from rodents, particularly deer mice, infected with hantavirus.

Two of the three confirmed cases have died, and a probable fourth case has also been identified.

The national park service is contacting 1700 people who stayed at the Curry Village “Signature Tent Cabins” since mid-June to warn them to seek medical care immediately if they experience early symptoms of hantavirus infection. Early signs include fever, headache, and muscle ache, which can appear 1 to 6 weeks after exposure. These can quickly progress to severe respiratory problems and death.

Source: National Park Service news