A new study finds that wildfires in California’s fabled Sierra Nevada mountain range are increasingly burning in high-elevation forests, which has been rare, historically. The director of the study, with the John Muir Institute of the Environment at UC-Davis, is John Schwartz. He says the phenomenon, above 8000 feet, is likely driven by climate change and the current drought, among a number of factors…

click to listen to John Schwartz

But Schwartz says that doesn’t necessarily mean anything needs to be done about it…

click to listen to John Schwartz

But Schwartz says more fires at high elevations could accelerate shifts in vegetation, destroying existing growth and increasing opportunities for lower-level plant and tree species to migrate upward.