Drought Is Killing Christmas Trees Across the U.S.
Climate Signals Summary: Christmas tree farms across the U.S. are being forced to close or limit sales and are raising prices for customers due to drought, a Gizmodo compilation of local reports warns. Extreme heatwaves and drought, both made worse and more frequent by climate change, slow the growth of, and can even kill Christmas trees, with the Pacific Northwest already seeing heavy losses last year. The damage spreads from Texas to Kansas to Massachusetts with some Christmas tree farms forced to import pre-cut trees from other parts of the country. The tree shortage combined with inflation driven in part by skyrocketed fossil fuel costs as oil and gas companies have reaped windfalls from Russia's war in Ukraine — will hike Christmas tree prices as much as 20% this year and the damage could last even longer. Christmas trees take about six to eight years to mature and NOAA predicts the drought will likely worsen and spread this winter.
Full Article: Gizmodo
(Climate Signals background: Drought)
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