Climate Change

Climate modeling & software development

With the increasing concern over climate change, interpolated climate data have recently become essential for biological research and applications in forest management, conservation policy development, and infrastructure planning. Virtually every study in the field of climate change impacts and adaptations requires long-term climate baseline data, records of past climate variability, and future predictions from general circulation models.

On these pages you can download comprehensive and up-to-date climate databases (approximately 15,000 spatial coverages) and software to query those coverages. The databases are compiled and maintained by Andreas Hamann, Dept. of Renewable Resources in collaboration with Tongli Wang and Sally Aitken at the University of British Columbia, and Dave Spittlehouse at the BC Ministry of Forests.

Download links

Access data and software for Alberta

Access data and software for British Columbia and the Yukon Territories here.

References

  • Wang, T., Hamann, A., Spittlehouse, D. and Aitken, S.N. 2006. Development of PRISM based scale-free climate data for western Canada. International Journal of Climatology 26: 383-397 PDF Article
  • Spittlehouse, D. 2006. ClimateBC: Your access to interpolated climate data for BC. Streamline Watershed Management Bulletin 9(2): 16-21. PDF Article
  • Hamann, A. and Wang, T. 2005. Models of climatic normals for genecology and climate change studies in British Columbia. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 128: 211-221. PDF Article
  • PCIC. 2004. ClimateBC: A program to generate climate normal data for genecology and climate change studies in British Columbia. PDF Article

Biological analysis using these databases

  • Chhin, S., Hogg, E.H., Lieffers, V.J. and Huang, S. 2008. Potential effects of climate change on the growth of lodgepole pine across diameter size classes and ecological regions. Forest Ecology and Management, 256: 1692-1703.
  • O'Neill, G.A., N.K. Ukrainetz, M.R. Carlson, C.V. Cartwright, B.C. Jaquish, J.N. King, J. Krakowski, J.H. Russell, M.U. Stoehr, C. Xie, and A.D. Yanchuk. 2008. Assisted migration to address climate change in British Columbia: recommendations for interim seed transfer standards. B.C. Min. For. Range, Res. Br., Victoria, B.C. Tech. Rep. 048. PDF Article
  • O'Neill, G.A., Hamann, A., Wang, T. 2008. Accounting for population variation improves estimates of the impact of climate change on species; growth and distribution. Journal of Applied Ecology 45: 1040 1049. PDF Article
  • Hamann, A., and T. L. Wang. 2006. Potential effects of climate change on tree species and ecosystem distribution in British Columbia. Ecology 87: 2773-2786. PDF Article
  • Wang, T., Hamann, A., Yanchuck, A. D., ONeill, G. A., and Aitken, S. N. 2006. Use of response functions in selecting lodgepole pine populations for future climates. Global Change Biology 12: 2404-2416. PDF Article
  • Woods, A., Coates, K. D., and Hamann, A. 2005. Is an unprecedented Dothistroma needle blight epidemic related to climate change? Bioscience 55: 761-769. PDF Article