Forest dieback due to climate extremes follows global pattern

International researchers found a pattern of extreme climate conditions leading to forest dieback. To do this, the team had collected worldwide records of climate-related tree and forest dieback events over the past nearly five decades. Then, variations in the local climate that prevailed at the time were identified and compared. This allowed the researchers to derive a combination of extreme climate conditions in which trees die: drought coupled with heat, in precisely defined extreme conditions. The results, recently published in Nature Communications, reveal an ominous scenario for forests in the context of ongoing global warming.

For more information in English language, please check the press release by the University of Florida.