Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2023 February 24

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February 24

forests of north midwest of United States, insect infestations

Will frequent very cold polar vortices in the midwest help control the tree deaths from insects? Some insects are migrating north due to global warming, will the sudden cold of a polar vortex push them back? thanks, Rich (talk) 21:55, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

Let's take, for example, the Mountain pine beetle which is killing trees in the northwest US and Canada. It is native to North America, and is quite successful in areas like Idaho which get hard frosts. Or the European spruce bark beetle, which appears to have spread from the Iberian Peninsula to kill trees as far north as Norway. Its article says, "... long-distance movements originating from the Iberian Peninsula may have contributed to their invasion of northern Norway spruce forests. Movements like this can happen when various environmental factors such as severe storms, drought, or mass fungal infections damage or kill host trees." Other factors such as poor tree health are driving opportunistic beetle outbreaks. Abductive (reasoning) 17:25, 25 February 2023 (UTC)