Few people have the ability to recognize how unhealthy and sick
the world's trees and foliage have become ...

Please develop an eye for this!

Look around you ... what signs do you see?

Black fungus, curling "fried" leaves

Sparse crowning, too-early regrowth, dead leaves still clinging

Secondary growth (new branches sprouting from trunks)

Entirely dead trees, stripped bark, uprooted trees

Notice the "white stuff" on the bark of trees.  It looks a lot like chalk or even paint, and has been showing up on tree trunks over the last couple of years, climbing higher with the passage of time.  Are the trees attempting to eliminate compounds that are building up in them?  What are these deposits?

California redwoods at the State Capitol park in Sacramento are ringed with white "tube socks."  What is this material and why is there more of it on the trees each year?

The "Tube Sock" effect on trees ... what is it?

All over the country, trees are showing strange symptoms ... 

"Tube socks": bark turning white from the ground up about 2 or 3 feet.  Dead leaves and branches bending downward: Look up into the tree, and you might see the leaves looking scorched and brown well before winter ...  interior growth is sparse.  Black fungus is another report.  What is causing this?  Rumors circulate about the usual "beetles" or undefined "fungus" -- conveniently vague, with the familiar "nothing to get worried about" subtext or afternote.

In the case of the "tube socks," as the white material builds up, the bark of the trees will come off in big chunks in your hand.  Notice in this picture that the white stuff also shows on the roots.  One researcher noticed that the white is most apparent on trees that are watered or irrigated, and not present on trees that take in only groundwater, although others say they see it in the forests also.

Allen Buckman, formerly a wildlife biologist with the California Department of Fish & Game, has taught concerned citizens how to identify dying trees.  (See the DVD "Sky Lines" by Deborah Whitman.)  We are so used to taking trees for granted that we don't know much about them, or even take the time to look carefully at them!  Just taking a walk in your neighborhood or even having a conversation with friends or homeowners might open your eyes to what's happening to our trees.

Deborah Whitman of Davis, California has founded a non-profit called Environmental Voices, and is offering to help people test the health of their local trees.  So far, local bark samples from Northern California show high residues of aluminum, barium and titanium, which might well be the source of the white deposits we are seeing.

What is silicate?  Dictionary definition: "Any of numerous insoluble often complex metal salts that contain silicon and oxygen in the anion, constitute the largest class of minerals, and are used in building materials (as cement, bricks and glass)."  Silica or silicon dioxide (SiO2) is present in 25% of the earth's crust (think sand).  Silicates are created when silica binds with metallic salts (oxides), also naturally occurring.  However, of note is the fact that metallic salts (e.g. aluminum oxide) are a major component of the aerosols (a.k.a. "chemtrails") appearing everywhere in our sky.  Could it be that these metallic silicates are overloading our trees and causing their health to rapidly decline?

Former California crop-loss analyst Rosalind Peterson comments:  "Once you have air pollution and add aluminum, it allows the tree roots to uptake the aluminum, which then prevents the roots from absorbing water and nutrients to survive.  This leads to death which looks like drought."

The Issue of Sunlight

Not a small matter!  Sunlight is a natural disinfectant, as people discovered in earlier centuries when glass windows were installed in houses.  Light prevents molds from forming and growing, and our general health is better!  (In fact, three of the biggest reasons overall public health improved: running water, glass windows, and washable cotton underwear that was changed on a regular basis.  Medicine was not key -- hygiene was.)

Lack of direct sun causes higher humidity and less light -- perfect conditions for molds, mildew and fungus growth.  Most important:  Direct sunlight is needed for photosynthesis by plants (to make chlorophyll, their food), and filtered sunlight just doesn't do the trick.  Translation:  Plants cannot nourish themselves properly when man-made clouds cover the sky.  In Mendocino County (Northern California), from December 16, 2006 to May 30, 2007, there were only three full days of direct sunlight.  Wild grasses did not grow more than a couple of inches, despite normal rainfall.

A summer day on the ocean in Del Mar, CA with artificial "cirrus" clouds

 

The Death of Trees ...

Throughout suburban neighborhoods these days, trees are being reduced to what you see pictured on the right -- stumps.  Homeowners are spending thousands for tree removal, not knowing why their trees are dying.

Arborists tell us the problem is bugs and blight. But why such a rise in infestation by bugs and blight?  Weakened trees with sparse foliage and bowed branches are now visible in many backyards.  Because sick or dying trees are more apt to collapse and are therefore considered to be hazards, they are usually cut down or destroyed.

What will our world look like with fewer and fewer trees?

More bark photos (click to enlarge):

Allen Buckman points out that fungi and beetles often seek weak or damaged wood, so blaming tree decline on these causes is not conclusive.  Writes Rosalind Peterson (whose new website is www.agriculturaldefensecoalition.org:  "The dead and dying trees, dead branches, impacted shrubs and bushes are turning some of our forests into torches when touched by fire.  Why are our public officials ignoring this problem ... not taking tree ring and soil samples to find out why our trees are stressed and dying?  What has caused this ecological imbalance?  So far the typical response is "drought and bugs," but many areas where trees are in decline have had normal rainfall.  Healthy trees resist pathogens and bugs.  Many state and federal government officials will talk about decline off the record, but are afraid to speak out because they fear the loss of their jobs.  Why?"

From Charles Little's book, The Dying of Trees:  "Aluminum is a common constituent of forest soils, but it is 'locked up' in aluminum silicates, and in this compound form is [no danger to] trees and other plants."  With acid rains, however, the silicates are broken down and the aluminum is freed.  "The metal kills the roots first.  This means that trees can no longer absorb and transport needed nutrients ... are weakened and can be invaded by insects or pathogens, or succumb to extremes of weather ... in which case they die."

Charles Little attributes the dangers of aluminum to the metal being unleashed from its silicate form by acid rain.  Perhaps more research must be done to see whether aluminum overload -- even in silicate form -- endangers trees, or whether factors besides rain alone cause metals to unbind and weaken the health of the trees.

Test results from the tree shown above ...

Bark taken from the tree (see third photo above) was tested for aluminum, barium, strontium and titanium.  While the EPA does not provide information on what constitutes "safe" or tolerable levels of these elements in the wood of trees, the testing came out positive for all four substances.  Aluminum was highest (387 mg/kg), and this tree in Solana Beach, California by far outstripped similarly tested trees in Davis and Nevada City.  A tree in Lake Tahoe (CA) beat this one, at 435 mg/kg.

Results:  Aluminum 387 mg/kg, Barium 18.4 mg/kg, Strontium 113 mg/kg, Titanium 15.2 mg/kg.  Bark sample was taken in September 2009.  

Spiderwebs, Transparency and Fungus 

Another indication of decline is "spiderwebs" (see photo on right, click to enlarge).  These are actually formed by spider mites -- tiny web-spinners from the arachnid family -- and a single tree may have hundreds of webby clusters on its leaves or needles.  The point to be made is that plants and trees attract insects, fungus, bacteria and even viruses when their health turns and they begin to sicken or die.  Nature hastens the downward spiral by providing decomposition "helpers," so that a life form on its way out can be quickly converted into nutritive material for the earth.  As trees decline or die, they form symbiotic relationships with organisms that feed on them and hasten their breakdown.

Take a drive around.  Or better yet, walk ... you'll have more time to look.  The word "transparency" is being used in reference to trees.  In the old days, trees provided privacy -- they were thick, lush, green and cooling.  Today you can literally see through them, so stark and bare have they become.  They are also laden with fungus, both green and black, especially visible after a rain.  Notice the brown "frost" on the tips of needles or leaves.  Forests used to be green; today they have a noticeably brown hue.  And this is not from drought or "climate change."

"Transparency" of trees occurs when gaps occur in their foliage or needles. Rain brings out what looks like a bright green fungus on sycamores (see at right).  Click to enlarge

Geoengineering ... is already part of our lives.  Its end goal may be difficult for most of us to grasp.  Why would they do that?  Letting nature go by the wayside to come in with "fixes" and life forms that are technological from their very engineered origins and, most important, will respond to technological control.  Why, you ask?  Because there will be no variables.  Nature is full of unpleasant variables.  Some people don't think that's the way it should be "because of God."   Some people evidently believe we should take over and run nature ourselves.  Contemplate the realities and possibilities.  Read Michael Murphy's observations from his March 2010 trip to Shasta County in northern California, where aerosol spraying occurs almost every day ...

The natural world is literally gasping for breath around us.  Are we too busy and disconnected to notice?  Peer up into a pine tree tomorrow.  How much green do you really see?  Once you begin looking, it's scary.  What will we do without trees, as they are cut down or die around us?  Read Rosalind Peterson's article on tree decline here.

Want more?  See a full catalog of tree decline witnessed on the East Coast here.
 

To find out how to test your own bark samples, contact Environmental Voices at (530) 792-7054 or email "environmental voices at yahoo.com"  Note that the lab requires a fee for testing.

Genetically Engineered Trees to Replace Real Trees?

Don't think it couldn't happen.  It's happening now.  Arbor-Gen, a division of Monsanto, has been experimenting with genetically engineered trees across the country.  Allowing rampant natural tree death, as we are witnessing all over the planet, could be a deliberate strategy so that new forms of "better" trees can be introduced instead.  Corporations who have patents on such trees will require annual licensing fees for the placement of their trees in parks, on streets, in our front and back yards.  GM trees will be non-reproductive, fast growing, and easy to replace at any time.  Forests will be like cities -- all laid out and planned.  Because the trees will be sterile and produce no nuts, berries or seeds, there will be no songbirds, squirrels or insects in these artificial forests ... hence the term "The Silent Forest."