A new study is claiming that all the forests in the U.S. are under threat of falling victim to severe drought, according to La-Kabylie. Researchers say that the current evidence suggests that forests are in danger, as droughts in the future may be longer and more frequent.
"Over the last two decades, warming temperatures and variable precipitation have increased the severity of forest droughts across much of the continental United States," lead author of the study James Clark said. "We now have a pretty good handle on predicting the impacts of climate change and drought on individual trees."
The new study compiled hundreds of research papers from 14 different research institutions, according to the Canada Journal.
Another threat is that the climate may be changing at such an intense rate that trees may not have time to spread their seeds and naturally migrate to more favorable climates. Not only that, but the trickle down effect is damaging as well, with animals and habitats having to adjust to the possible shortage of forestation.
"Prolonged drought affects wildfire risks, species distribution, forest biodiversity and productivity, and virtually all goods and services provided by forests, so there is a pressing need to know what is happening now, what might happen in the future and how we can manage for these changes," said Clark.
The research has been published with the journal Global Change Biology.
