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Methuselah Tree
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Program Overview
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The discovery and analysis of a bristlecone pine tree that is more
than 4,600 years old has provided scientists with an accurate and
precise means of analyzing historical climate data.
The program:
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highlights Edmund Schulman's 1957 discovery of the world's
oldest living tree, Methuselah, which resides in the Inyo
National Forest in the California White Mountains.
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explains the process of tree-ring analysis, which in some cases
can be a more accurate method than radiocarbon dating.
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describes how the exact year of climatic events can be
pinpointed from the evidence found in tree rings, such as an
abnormally cold summer in 1628 b.c.
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shows how Methuselah lived through and adapted to a harsh and
changing environment that included human settlement, silver
mining, and nuclear bomb testing.
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takes the point of view of the tree in chronicling its history.
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raises questions about whether bristlecone pines might hold the
secret to extreme longevity, based on evidence that 100 percent
of Methuselah seedlings germinated.
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