verb (vitrifies, vitrifying, vitrified) [with object]
  convert (something) into glass or a glasslike substance, typically by exposure to heat: the option of vitrifying nuclear waste presents problems | glazes and paintings on pottery are vitrified by firing in the furnace | (as adjective vitrified) : the use of vitrified clay pipes inside buildings is prohibited.

Given the trees continued to reproduce, the "solar energetic particle (SEP) spike" was probably not as bad as this characterization.

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2022.020...