If you are interested in this topic, you will find many interesting theories, ranging from continental floods to the nuclear war of 1812 unleashed by alien invaders. Here who believes in what, in any case, reading them you will have nice fun))
Meanwhile, bare facts remain - in the first old photos of cities and villages, the construction of buildings and railways in Russia, you will not see old trees. There is a young forest, much younger than what we see around us today. Even rare photographs from the place of the fall of the "Tunguska meteorite" are not surprising with the thickness of the trunks.
Trunks of approximately the same thickness lie thin as matches. Where are the oak sorcerers from the famous song, where are the age-old trees, where are the tall pines?
Unlike us, a huge number of photos from European countries and on the territory of both Americas with the same oaks and sequoias known throughout the world have been preserved.
The official version says that the reason for our lack of age-old forests and the fact that trees do not live up to their "retirement" is due to the unfavorable climate and local fires, which are regularly reported from Siberia and the Far East. And yet it is strange that on the territory of our vast country there was not a single photo-confirmation that captured a truly ancient dense forest, with a centuries-old oak grove (meanwhile, oaks in suitable conditions and favorable soil will live for 1500 years). And in general, looking at the photographs, there is a feeling that all the thickets are of about the same age, which cannot be at least because of the version about regular local fires.
Promotional video:
Despite our doubts, I agree that it is difficult to determine the age of an already standing forest without counting annual rings and without measuring the trunk from one photo. Who can say exactly how old he is, 50, 100 or 150? But according to the same logic, we have to admit that ANY forest in Russia burns out more often than once every 150-200 years.
Searches at the level of the Federation Council
The Council for the Preservation of the Natural Heritage of the Nation in the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation has launched the Trees - Monuments of Wildlife program. Enthusiasts across the country are looking for trees from two hundred years and older with fire during the day. Trees two hundred years old are unique! All breeds and varieties have so far been found throughout the country about 200 pieces.
Link.
Searching by maps
For example, let's take a forest in the near Moscow region. Judging by the thickness of the birches prevailing there, they are no more than half a century old, although they definitely grow here much longer. I personally have a birch on the site, which is 70 years old with a radius of 25 cm. That is, one ring has a width of 0.4 cm. Apparently, our conditions are not very favorable. This means that the birches in the forest are not 40, but 80-100 years old.
Opens the map from the 1770s, that is, 250 years ago. On a fragment of the map of the Zvenigorodsky district, the blue mark is a place for comparison:
On the second survey map of the same period, the dotted line marks the boundaries of the forest and the forest is present on it in almost the same configuration as now.
Based on the second map, we note that at the end of the 18th century the forest was in the same place as today. That is, 250 years ago there was a forest here too, but where are the trees 250 years old? Netuti, sir.
Maybe deforestation has begun on more recent maps?
Schubert's map, built from surveys of 1838-1839, was the most detailed map of the area of all time and was republished with infrastructure additions for almost the next century. The so-called "one-sided", that is, in 1 inch 1 verst (1 cm = 420 m). The scale is doubled for convenience:
Soviet map of 1922-1928 based on filming:
There is a glade on it that still exists today! According to these calculations, the forest has been in place for at least 150 years!
During the Second World War, aerial photography was made from a German spy plane in 1942, in which we first see not only the forest, but also its condition:
Over the years, they built the Kiev highway, but the forest corresponds to what is noted on the old maps. However, a huge triangular clearing appeared on the right and a completely bald clearing a little to the left. From an eyewitness, if you do not know where the felling was, it would be difficult to find it on the ground today.
Now aerial photography from the American spy in 1966. For 25 years, the felling has been overgrown, and the edge of our forest from the side of the field has been slightly cut:
Map for 1982:
The boundaries of the forest correspond to 1966. The forest celebrated at least 200 years, but there are still no old trees on it.
Let's turn to modern technologies and a photo of Google 2006:
Compared to 1966-1982, the forest has not changed much. And the last forest change happened in 2013. Part of the forest has been cut down. The felling took place in winter with huge tracked vehicles, even their parallel tracks are visible:
Based on dry facts, although our forests were cut down fragmentarily and then grew again, individual specimens of old trees can also be found. But exceptions to the rule cannot refute the general trend …
Where to look for fallen trees? Where are the centuries-old forests and huge stumps hidden? And in the cultural layer. Just like the first floors of old houses, like the first floor of the Hermitage. Now a question for historians, how do they explain that most of the old trees and buildings were dug into the cultural layer? Probably, the reason was the same for which Tartary disappeared.