Even desert plants known for their resilience are burning and dying in the heat
Even desert plants known for their resilience are burning and dying in the heat
Agave and saguaro cacti, both heat-tolerant and drought-resistant, are suffering as climate change makes heat waves more frequent and intense.
But clearly this is just a natural thing. Why, desert plants are KNOWN to burn up during natural shifts in climate, ESPECIALLY after an ice age ends!
@.@ Guess what dumb ass argument I hear a lot for why the summers are getting hotter
The thing about human-induced warming is that it has a rather pronounced effect at night when the planet is trying to shed the heat built up over the day and no longer can as effectively.
I am not a botanist, but I wonder if desert plants are adapted to take advantage of the cool desert nights to recover from the intense daytime heat? If so, I could see where they would be in trouble now.
The water takes more energy to heat up and cool. That's why it's often cooler near bodies of water, especially large ones, as they take more time to change temperature.
Normal "land" take a lot less energy, but there is still some heat and cold being kept that takes more time to change.
Deserts have nothing to keep the cold or the heat, so as soon as the sun is gone it's far below zero, and as soon as the sun shows up it fires back up to very warm temps. Desert plants mostly survive by barely needing water.