Mountain pine beetle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mountain pine beetle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Mountain pine beetles inhabit ponderosa, lodgepole, Scots and limber pine trees. Normally these insects play an important role in the life of a forest, attacking old or weakened trees, and speeding development of a younger forest. However, unusual hot, dry summers and mild winters in central British Columbia during the last few years, along with forests filled with mature lodgepole pine, have led to an unprecedented epidemic. [1]

It may be the largest forest insect blight ever seen in North America.[2] Climate change has contributed to the size and severity of the outbreak, and the outbreak itself may, with similar infestations, have significant effects on the capability of northern forests to remove greenhouse gas from the atmosphere"