Here, in the rain shadow of the mighty Sierra Nevadas, which block weather approaching from the west, the average annual precipitation is less than 12 inches, and most of that falls as snow in winter. In summer, which can provide as few as six weeks of warmth for bristlecone pines to generate growth and reserves for overwintering, precipitable moisture ranks among the lowest recorded anywhere on Earth. Moreover, the soil the bristlecones cling to is not dirt as most plants know it but dolomite, a limestone substrate with few nutrients. With so little time to get energy from the sun, and so little energy to be had from the soil, growth is grindingly slow. A bristlecone pine may add to its girth no more than an inch per century.

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Methuselah, the namesake of the tree, is recorded as living longer than any other human:

Genesis 5:
25: And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and
seven years, and begat Lamech:
26: And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech
seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat
sons and daughters:
27: And all the days of Methuselah were nine
hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
 
The tree named after him has lived almost 5 times that long!