Climate change, impacts and adaptation scenarios : Climate change and forest and range management in British Columbia

The rate of warming will be faster than has occurred in the past and there will be an increase in the frequency and intensity of ex- treme temperature and precipitation events. [...] During this period the global response to the risks of climate change should become evident, the resolution and capabilities of global cli- mate models will improve, and we should have a clearer idea of the climate change to expect. [...] It is recommended that the B. C. Ministry of Forests and Range respond to the potential impacts of climate change on forest and range management by co-operating with other agencies and groups in taking the lead to: • Develop databases and methods for assessing vulnerabilities to climate change and promote adaptation in forest and range management. [...] According to the climate models, a global warming of –4°C is possible by the end of the century along with an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme temperature and precipitation events. [...] The assessment of the best estimate and likely ranges in the grey bars includes the Atmosphere-Ocean Global Climate Models in the left part of the figure, as well as results from a hierarchy of independent models and observational constraints.