More than 1.1 million acres of fir trees in the Pacific Northwest died in 2022 due to drought and other factors attributable to climate change, a new survey by federal, state and local officials found, NBC News reports.

Using aerial survey laser mapping technology, the study swept over more than 69 million acres of land in Oregon and Washington, finding a little less than 2% of the forest land filled with dead or dying fir trees, the primary evergreen in the region.  Scientists have dubbed the situation “Firmageddon.”

Drought, in some cases followed by heavy rains, can devastate forests.  Trees that do not succumb to drought can fall prey to myriad other problems like mold, bark beetles, disease and other maladies.  In heavy rains following droughts, stands of trees can be destroyed in landslides, and dry trees make excellent fuel for the numerous forest fires that have impacted the area.

Half the state of Oregon has been under severe, extreme or exceptional drought warnings for months on end, with temperatures in the state rising 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1895, a significant change to the climate of the region.  Hotter, dryer climate helps detrimental species destroy trees.

“We’ve been hearing about climate change for some time. Climate change is happening. We’re now feeling it,” Christine Buhl, a forest entomologist with the Oregon Department of Forestry, said. “These summers are getting warm and long. We’re seeing evidence on the landscape. We needed to pay more attention decades ago, but we didn’t.”