In the midst of a severe drought in the Cape and animals going extinct, we can now add dead baobab trees to our list of things we need to worry about.

Nine of the 13 oldest, and five of the six largest African baobabs have died, or their main stems collapsed, according to a report by Business Insider SA:

When they are not flowering, these iconic trees’ branches resemble roots reaching into the sky …

Since 2005, an international team of researchers has investigated and dated practically all known very large and potentially very old African baobabs on the continent, about 60 trees in total. Using radiocarbon-dating, in which researchers date carbon atoms inside the tree stem, they found that baobabs’ unique architecture is responsible for their longevity …

The researchers set out to date the trees, but discovered that they were dying in an “event of unprecedented magnitude”, they write.

This isn’t good at all, friends.

After all, the baobab – which is the largest and oldest known flowering plant – is a symbol of the African continent. Not to mention that its fruit is ideal to eat if you’re on a health kick.

But now they’re dying out, and researchers are pointing fingers at climate change:

The team does not believe that the deaths were caused by an epidemic, and suspect climate change in southern Africa. However, they call for more research.

Elsie Cruywagen, a researcher at the Agricultural Research Council in Pretoria, says that there have been many reports over the decades of baobabs dying in times of drought. “It is mostly the most conspicuous ones, the biggest and oldest ones, that have died in a relatively short time that is so striking.”

Great job for letting the planet down again, humans.

Let’s take this dead baobab business as a severe lesson as to why climate change should be tackled as soon as possible.

[source:businessinsider]