https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/christmas-tree-farms-face-new-perils-rcna184769
Challenges to Christmas tree farms span from coast to coast. Drought has wilted crops in Oregon, while wind, flood and landslides caused by September’s Hurricane Helene dented North Carolina’s tree production.
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Justin Whitehill, who directs the Christmas Tree Genetics Program at North Carolina State University:
Whitehill said he believes that while Christmas trees may be able to survive the direct impacts of climate change, like rising temperatures, the stress put on the trees will make them more vulnerable to existing problems such as phytophthora.
“The trees are experiencing warmer temperatures, or they’re not getting as much water — that puts a little bit of stress on the tree,” said Whitehill. “When we get stressed out it makes us more susceptible to getting sick. The same can be said with Christmas trees.”
Rising temperatures and droughts have worsened wildfires in some of the top growing counties in the U.S, particularly the Pacific Northwest.
“Especially the last four or five years, we were getting these forest fires every year, and that was largely due to climate change,” Whitehill said, citing the droughts that affected the region. “And then you have hundreds of thousands of basically matches on the landscape. A lightning strike anywhere would cause a fire to occur.”
