the germans call it volchterben
meaning death of the forests
all over the world large wooded areas
once lush and green are now sickly and
gray
seeking reasons for this dramatic
decline scientists including a group
from nasa have been studying the problem
on camel's hump mountain in vermont
this photograph was taken from camel's
hump in 1963.
here's what this same area looked like
20 years later
to find out why nasa researchers have
been gathering samples of dying trees on
various parts of the mountain
there you go
yep
yeah look at the fluorosis on this one
these samples bagged and labeled in the
field will later be analyzed in area
laboratories
one theory why forests are dying is
what's popularly referred to as acid
rain
pollutants caused by the burning of
fossil fuels get into the atmosphere
are moved around our planet by air
currents
and fall back to earth in the rain
absorbed by plants and trees
based on their analysis of the samples
collected on camel's home nasa
scientists are not convinced that acid
rain is the sole cause of the problem
but they do think it's a factor
dr barry rock explained some rainfall
measurements on camel's hump have been
just horrendous we're approaching
vinegar we're approaching battery acid
in terms of the acidity
uh certainly that's got to have some
effect on on vegetation
specially equipped
and satellites are also being used in
the investigation to produce imagery of
the study sites
because the health of a plant or tree
determines how it shows up in these
images they provide a very accurate way
of discovering mapping and monitoring
damaged areas
nasa scientists now plan to use even
more advanced airborne instruments to
detect the very first stages of forest
decline before it becomes obvious
then we have some hope of being able to
treat the patient before it is
terminally ill
small vermont sawmills and the worldwide
lumber industry in general could soon
begin feeling the impact of bolstering
but as dr rock points out the problem
really goes beyond economic concerns
the spruce trees on camel sump and in
the black forest are
very sensitive indicators of stress
and they may well end up being the the
canary in the mine shaft
and since we can't easily get out of our
particular mine shaft we're going to
have to start looking at means of
improving the atmospheric conditions
nasa's damage assessment effort
looking at the trees to save the forests
you