Impacts of Climate Change on Cold Hardiness of Conifers

Abstract

Due to increased anthropogenic emissions into the atmosphere, concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases have been increasing globally during the past decades. Despite realized and planned control measures, this increase is predicted to continue in the future. Due to the accompanying changes in the physical properties of the atmosphere, the air temperature of the globe is predicted to rise dramatically in the future. According to most meteorological scenarios, the increase of the global mean temperature will be 1 to 4.5°C by the year 2100. However, it is also predicted that the level of warming will be more pronounced in the north than in the south and greater during winter than during summer months (IPCC 1996).