If global emissions continue unchecked, rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns could amplify tree pests and diseases across more than 80 per cent of North American forests within decades, jeopardizing critical carbon sinks, air quality and the forestry economy. This is the key finding of a new UBC-led study published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution. The researchers found that insects pose the more immediate threat, with more than 60 per cent of the areas examined projected to experience 30 per cent more insect pressure by mid-century. Species like the spongy moth, already wreaking havoc in Canadian forests, could expand significantly in eastern North America by mid-century. “The forests that exist today aren’t going to be ones existing in 2040,” said senior author Dr. Jonathan Davies. “The process is happening already. I think we’ve got to put everything on the table because the status quo is no longer tenable.”