Colorado Drought and Bark Beetles

Droughts are becoming more and more common. They make it hard for plants and trees to get the water they need to thrive, and that’s changing the landscape considerably.
During drought season in Colorado, there are often bans on hosepipes and other excessive water use. This can make it uncomfortable, but the ban is important to protect the world around us. There is a lot of damage done through drought, and here’s what you may not realize.

Higher Risk of Wildfires

We know that the number of wildfires happening around the world is going up. There are more and more issues, especially around California, Colorado, and British Columbia when it comes to the North American continent.

Wildfires become a major issue when there’s plenty of fuel for the fires to spread. Dry wood is one of the biggest sources of fuel for fires, and you’ll get a lot of that in drought conditions. Trees and plants dry out, making them more susceptible to catching fire. You’ll also have the dry leaves on the ground, creating more kindling for the fire.

More Threat of Diseased Trees

Wildfires are also an issue due to trees that become diseased and end up dying. This is a bigger issue in drought conditions. When trees start to lose their water content, they end up becoming good homes for bark beetles. More and more trees around Colorado are becoming susceptible to bark beetle attacks, and this is leading to them becoming diseased.

Spruce beetles are also a problem. Again, the trees start to dry out and become the perfect home for the insects. The best thing you can do is make sure the trees in the area are protected and have plenty of water.

Other Wildlife Is In Danger

Trees are the home for many animals. They end up causing problems for the animals living within them or feeding from them. Trees don’t provide as many nutrients for the wildlife in the area, meaning they can go hungry or they end up looking for new homes to survive.

Then the wildfires cause even more devastation. Not only are the trees burning down and ruining the homes, but a lot of wildlife is caught in the wildfires.

Damaging Our Ecosystem

Trees aren’t just important to animals. They are important to us as well. It’s the trees that help to create clean air for us to breath. Remember science class when you learned that trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen for us to breathe?

More drought means fewer trees around. Air pollution becomes an issue, and that’s without the smoke from the wildfires causing more issues.

Drought is a much bigger problem than it initially seems. The Colorado government is seeing this issue, but we need to do our part to also reduce the effects of drought.