Climate Change: Causes, Consequences & Solutions

All regions of the United States have experienced effects of climate change, such as changes in temperature, precipitation, sea level rise, storm intensity, tree health, pest pressure, wildfires, and worker safety.

Climate change presents opportunities and threats to Davey operations and our industry, so understanding the impacts of these changes is critical. The Davey Institute is leading the way by providing research-based educational resources to our employees, our customers, the green industry, and the general public.

On this page, you can find regionally-based climate change fact sheets, an interactive future hardiness zone map, and climate change blogs to learn about how climate change will impact your landscape and planting decisions, or your career in the arboriculture industry.

Climate Change Fact Sheets

The Davey Institute has produced a series of fact sheets that summarize the effects of climate change projected to impact our industry over the next 30-70 years.

The impacts of the average temperature of Earth increasing are readily apparent and projected to intensify including effects on temperature, precipitation, sea level, storm intensity, tree health, pest pressure, wildfire, and worker safety.

Select your region in the US to view what changes you can expect (PDFs):

Northeast Region (ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, DE, PA, MD, DC, WV)
Southeast Region (VA, KY, NC, SC, GA, FL, TN, AL, MS, AR, LA)
Midwest Region (OH, IN, MI, IL, WI, MO, IA, MN)
Northern Great Plains (NE, ND, SD, WY, MT)
Southern Great Plains (TX, OK, KS)
Northwest Region (WA, OR, ID)
Southwest Region (CA, NV, UT, AZ, CO, NM)

Select your region in Canada to view what changes you can expect (PDFs):

Read How Climate Change May Affect Your Plants

Climate Science Webinar Series

Dan Herms, Vice President of Research & Development for The Davey Institute, hosted a series of webinars outlining the impact of climate change on arboriculture and Davey's response to the changing environment.

Select your region from the list below to view the corresponding webinar recording:

Western US
Southeastern US
Northeastern US
Central US (covering Ohio to the Plains States and Colorado)

Interactive Future Plant Hardiness Zone Map

Trees in your yard are already adapted to the local climate. So as the climate changes, they find themselves in a situation they aren’t accustomed to, and this can stress them out and make them susceptible to drought, insect infestations, and disease infections.

See how your region's climate is shifting and the impact it has on planting so you can better understand how it may affect your landscape.

View Map

Environmental Urban Forestry Case Studies Alternating 640X426

Connecting Trees As A Green Infrastructure For Climate Change Resilience

Trees are green infrastructure that contributes to climate change resilience through the important ecosystem services they provide.

For example, trees sequester and provide long-term storage of carbon, decrease stormwater runoff, conserve energy through shading and reduction in urban heat, and filter air pollutants.

Services provided by the tree care industry including tree planting, health care, and preservation are important adaptations that contribute to climate change resilience.

The magnitude and economic value of the ecosystem services generated by an individual tree, or an entire urban or natural forest, can be easily quantified using i-Tree, which is a suite of software tools developed through a collaboration of the. U.S. Forest Service, Davey Tree, Arbor Day Foundation, and other partners.

Davey in the News: Climate Change News & Updates

Get the latest news and updates on climate change:

Dan Herms, Into the Garden, Into the Garden
Dan Herms, Boston.com, Experts offer their climate change-enduring picks of native plants
Dan Herms, Boston Globe, The dirt on climate change and plants
Dan Lambe, Washington Post, How climate change could affect which trees grow near you | Davey Tree
Dan Herms, Associated Press, Plant a tree resilient to climate change for Arbor Day | Davey Tree
Dan Herms, Wall Street Journal, Transform Your Front Yard (Forever) With One Economical Move | Davey Tree
Dan Herms, Garden & Gun, Six Ways Southern Gardeners Can Outsmart Climate Change | Davey Tree
Dan Herms, WUSF Public Media, How climate change impacts trees that survive in your yard | Davey Tree
The Weather Channel, Facts Are Facts: Hardiness Zones Could Change | Davey Tree
Dan Herms, The Courier-Gazette, Adapting to climate change with calculated planting of trees | Davey Tree
Business Wire, New Site Shows Impact Climate Change Has on Planting Trees | Davey Tree
Josh Fritz and Dan Herms, WCVB 5, Massachusetts tree varieties in trouble as climate warms | Davey Tree
Dan Herms, NJ Home magazine, Trees Will Help Our Future…But Which Ones? | Davey Tree
Dan Herms, 8 News Now, Drought-tolerant trees could be next water-saving decision | Davey Tree
Vince Mikulanis, SDNews.com, Urban forest tempers heat waves | Davey Tree
Dan Herms, NBC LX, Climate Change Is Stalling Fall Color | Davey Tree
Michael Sundberg, Associated Press, Why climate change is making it harder to chase fall foliage | Davey Tree
Dan Herms, Green Industry Leaders Network, Trees and Climate Change | Davey Tree
Dan Herms, BobVila.com, How Longer Growing Seasons Will Affect Your Landscape | Davey Tree