Hey everyone!

My name is Chris Anderson, and I'm at Death Valley National Park, one of the driest places on all of planet Earth.

And just over 100 miles away, it's a forest full of giant trees in Sequoia National Park.

How can these two biomes exist right next to each other?

Let's find out today on OutSCIder Classroom!

[Intro Music] Death Valley might be the most accurately named park in the country.

It's the lowest and driest place in North America, and the hottest place in the entire planet.

During the summer, it can get over 120°F during the day, and the highest air temperature ever recorded was 134°F here at Furnace Creek.

It's around 7 a.m.

and it's already getting close to 90 degrees.

And I am definitely feeling the heat.

It is starting to get very, very hot here.

Well, the reason it's so hot is because the valley is a long, narrow basin surrounded by these mountains here, those mountains trap in the air, which basically turns this place into an oven.

This is an air steel drum feeling hot, hot, hot.

Dididoodoodoo Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo.

*sigh* But things aren't just hot here.

They're also very, very dry.

Death Valley receives less than two inches of rainfall in an entire year.

That's not even enough to fill up the cup of mouthwash you get at the dentist's office.

Which makes me wonder, why is it so dry?

Let's hop over to the other side of the mountains.

[Music] Ahhh!

This feels so much better.

We're just a few hours drive from Death Valley.

But over here in Sequoia National Park, it's like being on a totally different planet.

Oh, is that an Ewok?

*Bear growls* Oh, nope.

That is a bear.

*Bear growls louder* Here, parts of the forest get up to 45in of rain a year.

In fact, during the winter, many of the park's roads are closed because of all of the snow.

And while it's a nice sunny day here, it's not the oppressive heat like it is on the other side of the mountains.

It's much cooler.

That's because we're higher up in elevation, but also the plants keep things cool.

So how come this side of the mountain is all green and lush and Death Valley is so well, dead?

The answer is the Rainshadow effect.

And to teach us more about this is my friend, Doctor Vernon Morris.

Hi, my name is Vernon Morris and I'm an atmospheric scientist who works at Arizona State University.

The Rainshadow effect is a situation in which you have a very moist air mass that is moving along.

It runs into an obstruction like a mountain or a high mountain range, and it ends up dropping a lot of its moisture or most of its moisture on the windward side of the mountain range, that is, the side in which the wind is hitting it first, and on what's called the leeward side of the mountain range, where there's no wind, the obstruction has blocked it, it rains a lot less.

And so it's very similar to you shining a flashlight on an object that flashlights light reflects back off of the object, you see the light in front of the object, but if you go right behind it, it's a little bit darker, even though there is still some light that goes around the object.

So that's similar to the rain shadow.

And we're in a place where the Sierra Mountains on the western side get a lot more rain.

And so you see something like the redwoods in the Sequoia National Park forest, where there's a lot of vegetation and green.

But if you go over and onto the other side of the mountains, the eastern Sierras, it's a lot drier and a lot less green, and it dries out very rapidly as you move away from the, the mountain range.

This isn't to say there's no life and Death Valley.

The park is home to several species of cacti and bushes.

These plants have special adaptations, like waxy skin to retain moisture and long, narrow leaves that secrete salt crystals that have been absorbed from the soil by the plants.

These adaptation help these plants survive in the dry salty conditions of Death Valley and while it doesn't rain very often, not very often is a long way from never, and when it rains, it usually pours, with thunderstorms dumping several inches of rain at once.

These storms replenish the underground springs that support the plant life in the park.

Occasionally, every ten years or so, the storms really bring it and dump a ton of rain on the park.

This results in what the Rangers call a super bloom.

When dormant seeds in the ground take advantage of all that excess rain and bloom like crazy.

For a few weeks, the normally desolate hills of Death Valley are covered in flowers.

It's a beautiful and rare event.

The park is also home to a surprising amount of animal life Coyotes, horned lizards, desert hares, desert tortoises, mountain lions, bighorn sheep, even fish call this park home.

[Music] So I'm at the Badwater Basin in Death Valley.

We are 282ft below sea level, making this the lowest point in North America and one of the lowest points in the entire planet.

It's a strange, quiet, and beautiful place.

But I got to ask why so down?

Around 16 million years ago, a large part of the North American tectonic plate started to stretch apart due to convection currents in the mantle.

All that stretching made the crust in places like Death Valley really, really thin.

It's kind of like if you were to stretch some Silly Putty as you pull the ends, the middle starts to get thinner.

Over the last few million years, the Crust and Death Valley has stretched out about 150 miles.

All that stretching has made the crust a lot less stable, and it's slumped down.

In fact, you can see the faults where the crust has slipped downwards that thin, slouchy crust is the reason why Death Valley's elevation is so low.

Man, I'm really in the mood for some thin crust pizza.

Another really cool feature about the Badwater Basin is that the ground is covered in salt.

That's because during the last few ice ages, Death Valley wasn't so dead.

The Earth's climate was a lot cooler, and the surrounding mountains covered in snow, which fed a lake that used to be right here.

This place look nothing like it does today.

There was probably a lot of plant and animal life, but when the planet warmed, the glaciers retreated and the lake dried up, leaving behind all the salt and minerals that were dissolved in the water.

Instead of a lush lake filled with fish and birds and mammals and plants, we have fascinating geometric shapes made of salt.

Death Valley is a great example of the impacts of tectonic forces and how the surface of the Earth changes over time.

All right, I'm going to get that pizza.

[Music] My name is Vernon Morris, and I am the director of the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences at Arizona State University.

And I am an atmospheric scientist.

[woosh, pops] [ding] I'm an atmospheric chemist, which is a particular type of atmospheric scientist who looks at how the composition of the atmosphere, the chemistry of the atmosphere, influences a variety of things.

Could be climate, it could be weather, believe it or not.

But my proposal was, what if you go into the storm and you measure the storm as it moves across?

So we kind of chase storms like storm chasers on land.

I think less crazy is storm chasers on land.

Even though like, good friends chase storms.

But we go out on a ship, during the dust seasons.

We basically a dust storm will come out of the Sahara, and it will come off the coast of Africa, and then we will design our cruise track of the ship so that we are going into the storm as it comes across.

In one case, we're sort of backtracking from older dust to younger dust as we're going this way.

As we do the North-South track, we're doing a cross-section of the dust storm so we can actually profile, you know, from north to south, what a dust storm looks like in terms of its chemistry.

And then when we turn around and catch up with the storm, we're doing what is called a Lagrangian experiment, where we're actually moving like the particle moves.

And so when we start, when we measure, in that case, we're actually measuring as if we were a particle.

And the chemical changes are the changes that that particle experiences as that moves across.

And so we use different mathematics to resolve each of those three.

But we meant to do three experiments in one.

And we have the actual information versus trying to infer the information from space or predict the information from models.

We have as close to the truth data as possible there.

And so we've been using that to improve models as well as improved satellite detection and prediction.

Like the joy I feel if I'm in the middle of the ocean or in the middle of a desert, or I'm on top of, you know, some mountain trying to take measurements, there's a freedom of just you can't you can't really describe.

Now, I didn't have any scientific role models growing up.

I never had a black teacher.

I didn't actually think I was going to be a scientist.

Even going to college.

And I was discouraged, actually never got into a science fair and every other science project, none of my science teachers encouraged me to even stay in science.

I was actually reassigned to vocational classes out of my AP courses, and my mother put me back in the AP courses.

And so it was later in life, I realized that there's all of these ways that a person who might be really good in science or really love science and have a passion for it can get excluded from the opportunity, and access be diminished.

So, I've had, in addition to my passion for science and just a passion for making science more inclusive, and, and trying to address these, transition points and these sort of barriers that keep people out or keep people from thinking that they can do science, or that science is for them.

But then I started a weather camp program at Howard, which ran for about 19 years, which was a sort of an entry level program to get students excited about the environment, about atmospheric sciences in general.

But anything related to the environment, really, and I think it's helping some of them are working for NOAA, and working for NASA and working for the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and I think, I hope they carry with them that responsibility of making sure that science is inclusive.

[Music] So, Ranger Michael, these trees are amazing.

These I mean, they're just so beautiful.

They're so huge.

Tell me a little bit about them, like, how big do they get and why do they get that big?

Yeah.

Giant sequoias are the largest trees by volume on the entire planet.

They can grow roughly to just over 300ft tall, and some of them can get as wide as 30 plus feet in diameter.

Wow.

In total weight, they can get upwards of about 4 million pounds.

And that's kind of estimated just because you can take the cubic footage and then multiply that by how large they are.

So these are skyscrapers.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Natural skyscrapers here.

That's amazing.

So what kind of adaptations do these giant sequoias have that allowed them to get so tall?

Yeah.

So these trees are able to live for a long period of time and grow really large due to their resiliency.

They are semi fire resistant.

They have properties that allow them to combat the bark beetle.

And then not only that, the bark itself is anywhere between 1 to 2ft thick, right down here at the base.

Any plant really needs as much sunlight to in order to photosynthesize.

So these trees growing upwards are able to get all their green foliage up as high as they can to take in as much sunlight as possible.

Being a tree that can get to roughly 3000 years old, their first 600 to 1000 years are spent just going upwards.

At that point, it turns into an adult and starts to widen out a little bit.

As we all do.

Yeah, exactly.

So they can be these trees can be thousands of years old.

Yeah.

That's correct.

The oldest one we found was around 3266 years old.

Wow.

That is that's a long time to be growing.

It's hard to fathom just how long ago that was.

A lot of these trees you could think of, of around the Roman Empire were about that big but still growing and living today.

What about the root system?

Like, do they go real deep or they're able to like kind of anchor themselves in?

In the Sierra Nevada mountains, we really only have about six feet of soil above our granite bedrock.

So these roots go down roughly six feet, and then they spread out.

Six feet, that's it?

That's it.

About as tall as I am.

That's deep as they go.

But the expansiveness of them allows them to anchor into the ground.

When you have a tree that's 300ft tall, you'd estimate about 150ft of roots in any direction.

We have about one acre of root sticks, root system, allowing them to interlock with other trees and really stabilize themselves so they, like, hold hands underneath the soil to, to make sure that they're all stable.

Exactly.

Their root systems will intertwine with each other, allowing for that extra little bit of stability.

So they kind of help each other out and making sure that they can hang on.

Yeah, that's really cool.

So, now these guys are pretty fire resilient, but, forest fires is kind of a natural part of these forests.

What do, what do these trees or how do these trees use the fires, I guess, to not just survive and but to thrive as well.

Yeah.

So, we talked about that bark being so thick.

Is that coat of armor kind of giving a thermal insulation for it.

But it's not just that the redness of these trees comes from tannic acid.

And that substance is almost a fire retardant.

It can sear, it can scar.

But it's really rare for them to burst into flames unless you have a really hot and intense fire.

Other than that, the sequoia cones are actually one of the neatest things.

They're called serotinous cones, meaning it takes a certain condition for them to open.

You can see this one still has some green on it.

Yeah.

And as that's attached to the tree, if there's a fire burning on the ground, that heat rises up slowly drying out this cone.

If you flip it to this side, it's already started to dry out.

And you can see that brownness.

If I do this, there's a seed.

Oh, wow.

So that as the heat dries it out and it releases those seeds.

So all 200 or so seeds are found is found inside each cone can slowly trickle down riding those thermal pockets up to about a half mile away.

Oh wow.

So these guys actually need the fires in order for their, for their seeds to even be dispersed.

You got it.

There are other ways with animals that chicories, but fire is by far the most prevalent way and not only allows for the seeds to be released, but it clears the down and dead material, giving us a really ashy, mineral rich soil for those seeds to land in.

Wow, that's a really cool adaptation.

It is.

So, how how is a warming planet affecting these giant sequoias that have been around for thousands of years?

Ten years ago, I would have told you that these trees are resilient.

Fire won't affect, insects won't affect them.

But as we're seeing this increase in temperature, we're seeing an increase in drought, prolonged drought, fire seasons are more intense and hotter for a longer period of time.

And these kind of drought stress trees have allowed for the bark beetles to really flourish and take advantage of them.

Over the last about 7 to 10 years, we've seen 33 giant sequoias in their mature state succumb to the bark beetle, which we really haven't seen in the past.

So all the the, the stress of the of the climate changing, you get drier is leaving these trees more susceptible to these insects?

You got it.

Wow.

So what can kids do at home who aren't, maybe close to this park?

What can kids do to maybe help protect these trees and, you know, keep these living giants, you know, living for another thousands of thousands of years.

Yeah.

I think one of the most important things for us is working as a community.

Planting trees, planting gardens at home are really great steps for that.

Tree is great carbon sink, taking in a lot of the different emissions.

And then you have planting a garden be more sustainable.

And this a great family activity to do with your parents.

It's a great thing to kind of learn about the ecosystem.

And in general, it kind of gives back to all our natural areas and really helps us save the earth.

[Music] Are you new to exploring the great outdoors, and not quite sure what gear you need?

Well, today we're at Roads, Rivers and Trails, a backpacking shop in Milford, Ohio, and owner Brian Wolf is going to teach us the essentials for what you need to go for a hike.

Hey, Brian, thanks for inviting me down in the shop.

Absolutely.

Thanks for coming down.

So what do I need to get started to go on a hike?

What are the essentials?

Let's get people on about.

First we just need a daypack.

So something to carry all the other essentials in.

And this could be simple.

This might be something you already own, like a shoe string bag from a concert or a school bag.

And so just about collecting all your other things with you.

So I don't need any, any special bag I can just use, like a book bag that's already at my house.

Absolutely.

Let's actually.

let's keep it simple.

And as we get into hiking, you could progress into something else.

So what do I need to put in my bag when I go for a hike?

Yeah.

So one of the first things we want to make sure that we have is enough water.

So if everyone could carry a liter or two of water, make sure you're carrying for the people that can.

Or if you have any canine pets.

Is there a rule about how much water I should bring with me when I go on a hike?

Yeah, I mean, definitely look at the forecast.

It depends on how much, exertion you're going to be having and how warm it is.

But it's a safe bet to have a liter, two liters of water per person.

Okay, well, if I bring in water, I should probably maybe bring some snacks, too.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Something just to keep everyone in a good mood.

Right.

And everyone's energy high.

So that could be just like some trail mix or a granola bar.

Do you have a favorite snack that you like to bring?

Yeah.

You know, I'll bring a Snickers bar a lot.

You know, pep me up a little bit of trail mix.

Something simple.

There you go.

Okay, so I've got my water, I got my snacks.

What else should I put in my bag?

Yeah.

So the next thing we're concentrating on is sun protection.

So this might be a full brim hat or a buff to keep the sun off your neck.

Definitely some sunscreen.

I even make some lightweight hoodies with some built in UPF protection.

Just so that you can have some more full body protection.

And I know I'll probably throw in some chapstick just because I hate when my lips get chapped.

Yes, that's a very good idea.

Okay, so we've got we've got water, food, sun protection.

Anything else I should throw in there.

Absolutely.

We're going to make sure that we have a first aid kit.

And this is something simple.

If you go through a store bought one or if you build your own either way, but make sure you have some, some of the simple things Band-Aids, blister protection, maybe some Benadryl if you have some allergies.

Okay.

So first aid kit, any anything else?

Don't forget your trail map.

Get to know where you're going.

A lot of the time, you might just be able to take a picture of a trail map at the kiosk before you enter the trail.

That's a good idea.

They might have some print out ones or a downloadable map to your phone.

Well, I think I got a pretty good idea of what I need to bring for for a hike.

Let's see.

Water, food, sun protection, map, first aid kit.

I think that's pretty good.

We're ready to go.

All right, man, let's do it.

All right!

The other thing I like to bring with me when I'm on a hike is my phone.

I can take pictures, identify plant and wildlife.

Heck, I can even have a downloaded copy of my map here.

You can also use your phone to call for help in case of emergency, but depending on where you're at, you might not have a signal, so be prepared.

Remember, enjoying the outdoors responsibly is all about making sure it's in a state so others can enjoy it as well.

Don't pick flowers or take rocks and certainly don't leave your trash.

No one wants to see your granola wrapper while they're on the trail.

Now get out there and explore some trails near you.

[Music] My name is Doctor Rocio Paola Caballero-Gill, and I am a trained geologist, specializing in paleoclimatology and paleoceanography.

[woosh, pops] [ding] It really is about, you know, what was going on with that climate.

With that environment.

What did the environment hold in terms of the life?

And, and then how did that impact other areas in general?

So it's really about, you know, what the things look like in the past.

So that's why I like the the term geo detective, because that's really what you're doing.

You're looking at things that are no longer here trying to figure out of those clues and put together the puzzle that tells you, oh, this is what it look like.

And this is what may have happened.

And this is, you know, an example of maybe what could happen to us if we go back to those conditions.

And essentially it boils down to getting information from deep in the ocean, because that's really where you're going to find things that are still there that have been buried through time.

And, you know, if you think of like just the surface of the ocean and things like living in the surface and then at some point dying and going down and then more getting down, and, you know, you accumulate these things layer after layer, you know, you kind of have a record of what things look like.

And as you go deeper in the past.

And so the idea is to look at one of those slices and depending on how thick that slice is, you're going to be like, okay, this is this many years.

And this is what it looked like in terms of the life that you had there, the chemistry that this, these living organisms were able to make.

And so you could find, like, tiny plants, tiny animals, little plankton.

Those are the ones that I looked at and phytoplankton, too.

And so the idea is that they tell you, oh, it was this warm, we had this much food, and a bunch of other things.

So then it gives you an, almost like a snapshot of what that time may have looked like in terms of the environment and the life it held.

So I came from Peru and I didn't speak the language, so I had to learn English in order to continue my studies.

So that was one of the barriers that I still struggle with.

And not knowing about scholarships and knowing about internships.

I didn't even know what a research internship was.

I didn't know what research meant really, until someone came along and said, hey, you can do this, and this is how we do it.

And I'm like, okay, that's great.

One of the things that I appreciate about science is that you, you have to work with people to make the science better.

And so that means work with all kinds of people, with various skills and perspectives and knowledge and identities, so that through that combination and really amazing teamwork, you can get to answers that you couldn't really get by yourself because it takes, you know, that much expertise to put together from different fields, to put it together and have a much more complete puzzle.

So my work now, that's really what I essentially do.

It's, work with those early career scientists or with people from backgrounds like mine, that are not like the, you know, typical, height, gender, color, all the things.

Right.

And even abilities because I have a chronic illness.

And so the idea is that if I can support those people to do the best science they can, being the people they are, also as scientists, not just one or the other, but together, then that makes a better science and that can help paleoclimatology even be better.

Right?

I would say, go with your gut.

You know, if you like it, connect with people or connect.

You know, sometimes we think, like our family, our friends, that that's all we have.

But those people can connect us with others and open doors and opportunities that we didn't even know.

And so the more this hypothetical young person could talk to others and express their interest, this is the kinds of things that I want to work on.

These are the things that I'm interested in.

And I mean, the web is really helpful in terms of looking for opportunities as well and not be shy to go for it.

When you do the Death Valley, make sure you check the weather reports.

It can get dangerously hot even early in the morning, and when it does rain, it usually results in flash flooding, which you do not want to be caught in.

And lastly, make sure you bring extra water, snacks, sun protection, a good map and stay on the trail.

[Music] Major funding is provided by the National Geographic Foundation.

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