Have you ever wondered how you can find out what situations happened somewhere in the world in the past? Although we can get this information from historical sources, there is a branch of science that helps to know the environmental context of a place, with the help of trees, which is called dendrochronology.
This science is responsible for studying the years of trees as part of research into the environmental contexts surrounding them, explains Vicenta Constante García, Master of Forestry Sciences from the Autonomous University of Nuevo León and researcher from the National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock Research (INIFAP).
He points out that if you had the opportunity to see the tree trunk, you would be able to notice the rings that form inside it, and each of these is the years of life that the shrub lives. “Its width tells us the amount of rainfall, that is: the larger the ring, the more rain, and the smaller the ring, the less rainfall. If you can figure out when each one formed, you'll know how much rain fell and in what year.
Vicenta states that this type of study is done by going to the field to analyze organisms that depend on water, such as trees, in areas where the same rain is what sustains their lives. To obtain a sample without harming the organism, they insert a hollow bar through the stem, obtaining a small cylinder to place in a mold. Then, they are polished so you can see the rings better and the exact year is determined.
“How do we do that? Right after the bark the layers are created and the first ring that is generated is the first year of the tree's life, and the last ring is, for example, if we went to the field at this time to extract a sample, that would be 2023.”
He points out that with this information provided by the factory, it is not only possible to know the amount of rain that fell annually, but it is also possible to know what happened to them at some point in time, such as a fire, as the injuries remain, and depending on the damaged ring, the time that has passed In it, thus providing knowledge of environmental events due to climate issues.
We consider this study to be of utmost importance to help humanity, so that it is possible to reconstruct the climate of the past and know what happened and thus analyze future trends through models, in addition to environmental protection to know when to benefit from the situation. Classify.
She concludes her speech by sending a message to women and girls who are thinking of devoting themselves to science not to be afraid, because she felt this too when she was young, but by not letting this feeling control her, she was able to learn about the life of trees and with it bring them many professional and personal satisfactions, and that is why The reason calls them to face this fear and grow.
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