Climate Change: Increasing Drought and Disturbances Risking the World's Forests

Increasingly severe disturbances may be weakening the world's temperate forests. Scientists have found the droughts and other threats could be levelling forests.

"While we have been trying to manage for resilience of 20^th century conditions, we realize now that we must prepare for transformations and attempt to ease these conversions," said Constance Millar, lead author of the new study, in a news release.

Many forests are remarkably resilient, re-growing after years of logging. However, climate change and rising global temperatures are giving rise to more severe droughts that exhibit a severity far beyond that witnessed in the past century. During a hotter drought, high air temperatures overheat leaves and also increase the stress on trees by drawing the moisture from their tissues at faster rates than normal.

"Some temperate forests already appear to be showing chronic effects of warming temperatures, such as slow increases in tree deaths," said Nathan Stephenson, co-author of the study. "But the emergence of megadisturbances, forest diebacks beyond the range of what we've normally seen over the last century, could be a game-changer for how we plan for the future."

Chronic stress from drought and warming temperatures expose temperate forests to insect and disease outbreaks. AS temperatures rise in many regions, fires grow in frequency and severity, causing lossesi n private property, natural resources and lives.

The findings reveal the importance of conserving these forests and how climate change may put these areas at risk as drought and other risks continue to worsen over time.

The findings are published in the journal Science.

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