Climate change and forest management in Canada

Climate change is already affecting Canada's forests and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Impacts observed to date include changes in forest fire regimes, large-scale insect outbreaks, droughts in central Canada, severe windstorms in Atlantic Canada and shorter periods of frozen soil. Climate change will affect forest growth rates, the distribution of tree species, the rate of ecosystem processes and the ability to carry out forest operations. These impacts will in turn affect forest-dependent communities, often in ways similar to those already seen in the current industry downturn.