Giant Sequoia TreeLargest Organism on Earth

Giant Sequoias Grow Faster With AgeA team of scientists measures a giant sequoia in California's Sequoia National Park

The President• Cloaked in the snows of California’s Sierra

Nevada, the 3,200-year-old giant sequoia called the President rises 247 feet. Two other sequoias have wider trunks, but none has a larger crown, say the scientists who climbed it. The figure at top seems taller than the other climbers because he’s standing forward on one of the great limbs.

• By climbing and measuring the tree, they calculated that the 247-foot-tall (75-meter-tall) giant holds more than 54,000 cubic feet (1,500 cubic meters) of wood and bark, earning it the ranking of second largest tree on Earth, as reported in National Geographic

• http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/12/sequoias/behind-the-scenes-video