Why there are more 'iconic' giant sequoias in Britain than California, where they are under threat

Alia Shoaib
·2 min read
A photo of a giant sequoia in sequoia national park.
General Sherman, the biggest tree in the world by volume, stands amongst other sequoias.PATRICK T. FALLON/ Getty Images

  • Giant sequoias are thriving in the UK, scientists say.

  • In California, the trees face threats from wildfires and climate-change-fueled droughts.

  • There are now thought to be around half a million in the UK.

Giant sequoias, some of the largest trees on Earth, are suffering in their native California due to threats from wildfires and climate-change-fueled droughts.

But scientists have found that they are thriving thousands of miles away in the UK, according to a new study published by the Royal Society.

There are now thought to be around half a million of them and closely related coastal redwoods across the UK, compared with fewer than 80,000 in California.

The trees were first introduced to Britain in the 19th century and became a symbol of wealth in Victorian Britain because of their "rarity and novelty," the report said.

And the trees appear to be flourishing in the UK, growing at rates close to that of their native home in the mountains of Sierra Nevada.

"The history of these trees in Britain is fascinating – initially as symbols of wealth and power, through to now being widely planted in parks and woodlands," Mathias Disney, a professor at University College London (UCL) and one of the authors of the study, said in a UCL report.

"They are iconic, but there is almost no work on how fast they grow or how well they will do in the UK's changing climate," he added.

Speaking to Reuters, Disney said that the UK's climate was "more temperate, wetter" and so "likely better suited to these trees in the long run."

The trees have not grown to be as tall as their California counterparts yet, however.

In California, the tallest sequoia is around 275 feet, and in the UK, the tallest is around 180 feet tall.

But that's in part down to their youth, with the oldest giant sequoia in the UK dating to 1863, UCL said in its report.

By contrast, the oldest known giant sequoia in the US reached 3,266 years old, according to the National Park Service.

The trees are particularly useful for their ability to capture large amounts of carbon dioxide, which is key to mitigating the effects of climate change.

UCL said giant sequoias "can potentially pull an average of 85 kilograms of carbon out of the atmosphere per year."

Read the original article on Business Insider