The Impact Climate Change On Ontario's Trees and What can be done to counter the effects of climate change.

Environment   Apr 21, 2016 by Bob

Trees play an important role in the ecosystem, trees are habitats, they help maintain the biodiversity of an ecosystem, they act as carbon sinks, they filter the air, and trees help neutralize the affects of climate change. Trees through photosynthesis take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen, this is good because we have too much carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and need ways to get rid of it. Unfortunately climate change is putting forests at Ontario at risk, as Ontario get warmer it will also get drier, this puts trees under an increased risk to forest fires and other natural disasters. Another threat to Ontario is invasive species, the warmer weather is allowing new species, some that kill trees but the species do not have any natural predators, an example of this is the Emerald Ash Bearer. This tiny bug is killing thousands of ash trees in Ontario and is destroying many habitats for other animals. However there are many strategies that we can put in place, to prevent the invasive species from spreading, the forestry industry can check the wood and make sure it is not infested before they bring it back to be processed, this will not only tell if the invasive species are in the area, also if a tree is infected it won't be used and will be disposed of to stop the spreading. Also we can check imported wood before using it to make sure any invasive species are not present, this was how the Emerald Ash Bearer was believed to enter North America. Another risk for trees is forest fires, an estimated 9/10 forest fires are caused by humans, so we can prevent many forests fires by increasing the penalty of having a campfire too close to trees, and in some vulnerable areas do not allow campfires at all.

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