This Tiny Bug Could Put a $625 Million Hole in Sweden's Forests
- Spruce bark beetle caused more damage than wild fires in 2018
- AI, satellites are joining fight against the miniscule beetle
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The vast wild fires that swept through Sweden last year aren’t the only threat forest companies have to contend with as climate change makes summers hotter and drier. There’s a much smaller -- but potentially bigger -- danger lurking in the woods.
The European spruce bark beetle, or Ips typographus, measures about 4 millimeters (1/8 of an inch). Several can fit on just a fingernail. But it damaged more wood last year than the record wild fires that ravaged Sweden. And as the bugs thrive in increasingly warm and dry weather, the damage they cause will likely grow.