Global warming
Global climate change is an unfathomed factor.
The effects of climate change or global warming on if and which trees we will be able to grow in the UK in the future are hotly debated. A small rise in temperature may speed the growth rates of many species already planted or enable us to introduce new faster growing trees from warmer climes to satisfy our timber needs and avoid pillaging the tree resources of other countries.
On the other hand, some experts predict that the Gulf Stream may no longer warm our shores and the climate may get colder.
And it is not just temperatures which change but amount and seasonality of rainfall too.
And the trees we plant today will have to endure the new conditions - whatever those might be - for decades to come.
So it is not always an easy or straightforward choice deciding which trees to plant where when you start thinking that far ahead.
More: The Climatic Research Unit website at the University of East Anglia makes interesting reading.
- FC Information Note 31 - "Climate Change - Implications for Forestry in Britain" by M. Broadmeadow (2000).
- FC Bulletin 125. Climate Change : Impacts on UK Forests. By M. Broadmeadow (2002)
- FC Info. Note 69. Climate Change * British Woodland. By M. Broadmeadow (2005)
Two websites that explain climate and climate change in a clear, level-headed way are: www.bbc.co.uk/climate and www.exploratium.edu/climate