Sustainable Kentucky and Trees, Climate and People are experiencing technical problems. We will have both sites repaired shortly and apologize for the inconvenience.

Blogs should not change their names lightly. However, the new title, Trees, Climate and People, much more accurately reflects the purpose of this site.  The focus of here is not on the biology of trees in general, but more specifically on how climate and human influences affect the lives of trees.  Hence the new title.

Following up on the previous post on Hurricane Ike, it is clear that tree falls account for many deaths and much of the widespread power outages throughout the midwest and eastern US. From Houston, where damaged trees continue to threaten property and power lines, to New York, where power outages were caused by tree falls, much of the wind damage caused by Ike was a direct result of wind damage to large trees.

Large trees are very important to life in cities. Obviously, they can be dangerous, but most of the photographs I have seen of storm damage following Ike show trees with severe defects, especially decay. Although the winds in my back yard reached 50 mph on Sunday, my large, healthy white oak (44 inches diameter, 95 feet tall) suffered no damage. Of the downed trees in Lexington that I saw, 100% were in poor condition and had external signs of decay and neglect

.

Unfortunately, storms like Ike convince people that large trees are dangerous. The truth is that large neglected trees are dangerous. Property owners don’t seem to see the need to spend money on maintaining trees, even while investing heavily in landscaping and home improvements.

Links:

• Houston – Residents wait for help as trees hover above their homes
• Cincinnati – Four Killed In Tri-State By Falling Trees
• Dayton, OH – 2 Killed At Houston Woods When Trees Fall On Motorcyclists
• Columbus – Prison inmates help clear trees (weather)
• Pittsburgh – High winds bring down outdoor stage, large trees
• Akron -Trees, power lines close area roads
• Northern Kentucky – Trees knock out power, impale man

Cross posted at Sustainable Kentucky and Tree Trends.