Mountain pine beetle poised to ravage Eastern Canada
Mountain pine beetle poised to ravage Eastern Canada
Billions of mountain pine beetles from B.C. are expected to devastate forests in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces as they munch their way east over the next two decades, scientists predict in a new documentary.
The rice grain-sized mountain pine beetle has already wiped out an area of B.C.'s lodgepole pine forest as large as Nova Scotia and New Brunswick combined. It has since crossed the Rocky Mountains into Alberta and is heading for Saskatchewan.
Warmer winters have allowed beetle populations to explode and wipe out millions of hectares of B.C. forest. The beetles have expanded their range into Alberta and jack pine forests that have no defences against this invader. The effects on forest ecosystems and the forestry industry have been devastating.
"Nobody would have expected that a simple degree and a half of warming in the interior of B.C. would unleash a beetle outbreak in 18 million hectares worth of pine forest," he said.
They're coming towards Ottawa. I can hear their crunching little jaws already...
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