TO GO WITH AFP STORY by Lucie AUBOURG, "America's national parks are losing their identity to climate change"
Biologist Frankie Foley shows volunteers how to remove buffelgrass in Saguaro National Park, on November 18, 2023. In 2020 and again in 2023, the region experienced unusually meager summer rainfall, typically a time of monsoon rains. The non-native buffelgrass began to colonize the park. This invasive weed, introduced from Africa as livestock fodder, fuels fires that have ravaged saguaros in the past, as in 1994 and 1999. The species "is very dry for much of the year, and it can ignite quickly and quite easily," says Foley. (Photo by Lucie AUBOURG / AFP)