There is growing concern that the frequency and severity of extreme weather events are increasing under the changing climate.
Scientists continue to study the impacts these extreme weather events can have on natural and managed ecosystems. Progress has been made in understanding the impacts of gradual changes in temperature and rainfall on forest systems. However, much less is known about the consequences of extreme weather events. This is because extreme events are unpredictable in time and space, which makes them very difficult to study. A team of scientists at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) are taking on this research challenge. They are learning the effects of extreme weather are often equal to or greater than the more gradual shifts in temperature and rainfall patterns associated with climate change.
In this virtual tour, explore three types of extreme weather that occur in the Northeast: ice storms, drought, and warming. Learn about the impacts these extreme events are having on northern hardwood forest ecosystems and what you can do to help make your forests more resilient in a changing climate. And don’t forget to look up!
Tour Tip: Click and hold to move around, and select the icons within for information.
Smart Phone or Tablet? We suggest going here for an improved virtual experience!
Available resources from this tour:
- Putting Forest Health on Ice
- Drier Soils in a Wetter World
- Drought by Design
- Drought Research for Forest Resilience
- Drought Impacts on Forest Ecosystems
- The Impact of Pests on Forest Composition
- Colder Soils in a Warmer World
- What Warmer Winters Mean for Northern Forests
- Climate Concerns for Rural Economies
- January 2020 was 5th warmest on record for the U.S.
- Update: Thousands in N.H. Still Without Power After Winter Storm
- Another Warm Winter but Better News about Climate Change
- Warmer Winters Are Harming Northeast Forests
- Northern forests have lost crucial cold, snowy conditions
- Not So Sweet: Climate Change Means Slow-Growing Sugar Maples, Study Finds
- UNH Research Finds Some Tree Species Fared Better Than Others in 2016 Drought
- The Ice Storm Experiment at Hubbard Brook (Interactive Brief)
- The Ice Women of Hubbard Brook (Interactive Brief)
- Hubbard Brook Ice Storm Experiment (Video)
- UNH Forest Drought Research (Video)
- Warming Winters (Webinar)
- 4th National Climate Assessment - Chapter 6 - Forests
- 4th National Climate Assessment - Chapter 18 - Northeast
- Characteristics of Ice Storms in the United States
- Simulating Impacts of Ice Storms on Forest Ecosystems
- The Ice Storm Experiment at Hubbard Brook
- A Computational Framework for Modelling and Analyzing Ice Storms
- Guidelines and considerations for designing field experiments simulating precipitation extremes in forest ecosystems
- Echohydrological implications of drought for forests in the United States
- Climate Change Across Seasons Experiment (CCASE): A new method for simulating future climate in seasonally snow-covered ecosystems