The Beetles are coming

Before I forget it I want to record what I learned today listening to the BBC’s Discovery program. It was about a plague of mountain pine beetles in British Columbia, which is largely due to climate change and a monoculture approach to forestry which has provided an abundance of congenial hosts. The beetles had previously been thinned out by the cold winters, which have recently been a couple of degrees higher. The long lodge pines have been reduced by 40%. Skillful control measures by local foresters have led the beetles to flee east into Alberta and they are en route to New Jersey.