It’s not like these trees survived multiple Holocene warm periods or anything. But, hey, if you have government funding, sure, why not
The search for Christmas trees that can withstand climate change
Drier summers and warmer autumns spell trouble for that iconic winter evergreen, the Christmas tree.
Working to safeguard this important Pacific Northwest crop, Washington State University scientist Gary Chastagner has traveled the globe on a hunt for hardy varieties. Dubbed “Dr. Christmas Tree” for his 44?year career studying the decorative conifers, Chastagner is now testing promising species that can stand up to an uncertain climate while looking and lasting their best in the home.
“I want to give growers and consumers more choices for high-quality trees,” he said.
Through the Collaborative Fir Germplasm Evaluation Project, a 12?year partnership with scientists in Connecticut, Oregon, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Michigan, Chastagner and colleagues traveled to Turkey in 2020 to find mother trees of Turkish and Trojan firs, which are adaptable to the Pacific Northwest’s climate and resistant to disease.
Hmm, so they all took a long fossil fueled flight to Turkey? And Chastagner has traveled all over the globe? Huh. Anyhow, it’s all about using anything they can find to use to scaremonger. In this case, Christmas. According to this report by researchers at NC State, they’ve found a gene to make them more “resistant” to Hotcoldwetdry. If only they could put the same effort an money into solving real issues.
