A small group of volunteer gardeners and tree surgeons is tackling global warming one tree at a time. How? By using cloned sequoias and coastal redwoods from California’s Sierra Nevada region. The trees, which were growing 1,000 years before Christ walked the earth, are as tall as twenty-story buildings and capped with mushroom-like canopies. It is from these green awnings that the arborists take clippings and start the cloning process.
Cloning plants is nothing new to horticulturists and has been used in everything from medical marijuana plants to garden-variety house plants. By clipping off the tips of young sequoia and redwood branches, they ensure the most likely successful cloning.
Think of it as The 6th Day meets the Swamp Thing. The project is being led by arborist David Milarch, co-founder of the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, who claims we are in a “race against time” and this is our last chance to reverse climate change.
Sequoias and redwoods are unique in that they are very resistant to drought, flooding, parasites, and fungi because of their robust genetics. Which is why they’ve been around for 3,000 years. The arborists believe that cloning more sequoias and redwoods in other areas of the world can slow down global warming by absorbing more carbon dioxide. Not everyone agrees with Milarch’s vision, though.
