Everbrown?

The forest around the Croft is full of Holm oak, Quercus ilex. Holm oak is evergreen and so our valley has always been a green place, even in the hottest summers. But this year - the second year of drought in Montseny - the trees have turned brown. 

The picture would look normal, in autumn in a deciduous forest. But here in the Holm oak forests of Catalonia it's a sign of death.

Thirsty trees

Groups of Holm oak have either died or gone into some form of drought hibernation. Around here these patches of brown seem to be associated with soil disturbance - a new path here, a drain dug there.

 

The die-back has been general, affecting all the plant life (and, we assume, some of the fauna too).

Pasture limits

In August, finally, it rained, and first the grasses and then the trees have been slurping up the water, and putting out new green shoots. 

And still governments take too little action on climate change. Shame on them.

Dry, and dry again

 It's hot and dry at the Croft:

All burnt and brown

The grasses have all died as have most of the flowering plants. The trees are holding out but the ground-water level is dropping, so they too will start to suffer. At 3pm today the thermometer read 35ºC and it has been like that for days. The forecast says it will stay like this for at least the next ten days, maybe longer.

For days, and for years, because this is the second summer in a row with low, low rainfall. So far this year we have had 211mm of rain (211 litres per square metre). By the end of July last year we had had 249mm, but both are more than 33% below the average for the first seven months of the year, 377mm.

 

 

 

 

We have started looking into getting water delivered, because our well is showing signs of distress. So far it's holding out, but for how long?

All of this is - of course - a precursor of the life we are going to have to lead as the climate emergency hits. Extreme temperatures - and the associated risks of forest fire - and resource shortages, starting with water.

 

Places like Montseny will be the canaries in our climate coal mine - crying out as the climate crisis strikes, warning us about the limits of growth, of consumption and of greenhouse gas emissions. 

 

Will our leaders listen? Will we, humanity, listen?