[ Washington , DC ] Climate change will exact a major cost on North America ‘s timber industry and could drive as much as 40 percent of its plant and animal species extinct in a matter of decades, according to a new report from an international panel. The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which released its summary report on global warming’s overall impact earlier this month, provided a more detailed assessment Monday of the effects on North America. The 67-page report, which examines everything from freshwater ecosystems to tourism, said North America has suffered severe environmental and economic damage because of extreme weather events including hurricanes, heat waves and forest fires. Without “increased investments in countermeasures,” the authors wrote that they are at least 90 percent sure that “hot temperatures and extreme weather are likely to cause increased adverse health impacts from heat-related mortality, pollution, storm-related fatalities and injuries, and infectious diseases.”

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