Earth day was this past week, so I thought it would be fitting to write about the celebration of the relatively new holiday by taking a look into the world’s oldest known tree. The tree is in Inyo National Forest and is a bristlecone pine. The name is Methuselah and it is approximately 4847 years old. You will not easily be able to find a picture of the tree as it is so well protected by the National Forest. The protection of a tree may seem excessive by some, but it is done for good reason, since many people are more interested in carving their initials into it than preserving it for the appreciation of the world. Another reason the protection is necessary is that another tree (which was even older) named Prometheus, which had the crown of the oldest tree previously, was cut down during research by a graduate student in 1964. Coincidentally, he was doing research on “the effects of climate change on receding glaciers by measuring their influence on the size of the rings of ancient pine trees” as we have studied recently in class. As ridiculous as it sounds, he felled the tree to retrieve a tool that he had gotten stuck in the trunk of the tree. It was about 4900 years old when it was cut down. Thankfully, he got his tool back though. Now these trees are much more heavily guarded by the forest service and details of the locations are heavily restricted. If someone does get the opportunity to see them in person, they are magnificent because of how wide they are and even more so, knowing that they only grow 1/100th of an inch on a good year.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/science/earth-day-worlds-oldest-tree-bristlecone-pine.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0