Trees can't move fast enough to escape a warming climate. Should we help them?

Concerned about trees' slow migration patterns, some ecologists are spreading seeds themselves. Critics fear they are playing GodThere is an impressive array of pine species at the Nature Conservancy's Plum Creek preserve in Maryland - loblolly, Virginia, shortleaf - creating a landscape that emits the smell of Christmas well into the summer. But a newcomer to the preserve has fueled an ethical debate about the role of conservationists in the age of climate change.Since 2013, TNC has planted more than 2,000 longleaf pine seedlings in fields not far from the Delaware state line. Today, clumps of longleaf stand together like gangly kids at recess, their eponymous green needles shooting out like pompoms in every direction. Continue reading...