A scientific study predicts that global warming may seriously damage North America’s timber industry.
The study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics (www.jareonline.org) also says rising temperatures could mean an economic boom for timber industries in regions with subtropical climates, such as South America, Africa and Asia-Pacific.
Using climate, ecology and economic models, it predicts timber growers in the subtropics will be able to expand their plantations of fast-growing trees to gain a larger share of the world market.
The area occupied by timber plantations in the tropics will increase on average by 675,000 acres annually, the study says. But a gradual shift in species could occur in temperate forests in North America and Europe, with softwood species taking over from hardwoods.
