Five years ago, a tragic and depressing environmental story unfolded when thousands of giant sequoia trees, an iconic California species that tower 300 feet high and can live for 3,000 years, were killed during multiple large wildfires that roared across the southern Sierra Nevada. The fires in 2020 and 2021 at Sequoia National Park, Sequoia National Forest and other areas burned with unprecedented intensity, killing nearly 20% of the world’s giant sequoias, and exposing the growing vulnerability of the most massive trees on the earth. … Another added stress is climate change. Hotter temperatures dry out soils and vegetation, making fire more severe. The drought of 2012-2016 and 2020-2022 killed millions of other trees in the Sierra, providing more fuel for fires.