Global Warming and the World's Forests

Climate change is already impacting the forestry industry and will undoubtedly have a major influence in the future. How will specific forests be affected? Which tree species will be the winners and which ones will lose out? This week's Super Six takes a look at recent research on how global warming will affect the world's forests and, consequently, the logging industry.

• According to the David Suzuki Foundation, climate change is threatening the health of forests around the world. As temperatures rise, weather patterns and the availability of water also change, altering the ability of trees to survive.

• The beloved aspen forests that shimmer across mountainsides of the American West could be one of the losers if emissions of greenhouse gases continue at a high level, scientists warned recently in a report covered by The New York Times. 

• Not all the news is bad though. Roger Sedjo, an internationally-recognized economist who studies the forestry industry, says global production of industrial timber should increase, even in the face of some regional losses, due to a warming world.

• Central Appalachian forests have been experiencing the effects of a changing climate for decades, and effects such as more heavy rainfall events, more drought, and more hot days are likely to continue, according to research by the U.S. Forest Service reported by sciencedaily.com.

• An article in Rolling Stone magazine discusses research on how global warming will affect the dominant iconic conifers of the American Southwest — the Douglas fir, the piñon pine and the ponderosa pine. As the planet warms, the Southwest is projected to dry out and heat up unusually fast — few places will be more punishing to trees. 
  
  
• We'll probably see more stories like this one in the future - firehouse.com reports on how the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest wants to salvage logs from thousands of acres burned in last summer's Johnson Bar Fire near Lowell. The agency is seeking public comments on a draft environmental impact statement that would allow loggers to harvest dead trees on 2,300 to 2,900 acres and yield an estimated 20 million board feet of timber.

The forestry industry requires long-term planning. For forest owners and all those who make a living in and from logging, it's important to stay abreast of how climate change will affect the world's forests.

We're heavily involved in the forestry industry with our Primex brand of forestry tires, and we're hearing from some of our customers about how they're facing more soggy conditions in some parts of the U.S. Tires are extremely important for operating forestry machinery in mud and muck, as reported in this recent story in The Hub.