A suite of ice-rafted dropstones and glendonites throughout the Permian succession of eastern Australia indicates the cold climate associated with the late Paleozoic ice age persisted longest in this part of Gondwana. Paradoxically, these cold climate indicators are preserved in transgressive and highstand facies and formed at mid to high latitudes at a time when paleofloral and sedimentologica...

In this short review, I will first summarize criteria by which environments can be considered "cold", with plant stature (size, height above ground) playing a central role for the climate actually experienced. Plants adapted to such environments have to cope with both extremes and with gradual influences of low temperature. The first requires freezing resistance, which is tightly coupled to dev...

British economy is edging out of a severe economic recession, during which the future of international financial systems seemed in doubt. The scale of debt is comparable to that following the Second World War, and national borrowing is predicted to reach 80% of gross domestic product by 2013. We have suffered a permanent loss in national output of 6–7%. The inevitable reduction in funding for p...

BACKGROUND It is well known that suicidal rates vary considerably among European countries and the reasons for this are unknown, although several theories have been proposed. The effect of economic variables has been extensively studied but not that of climate. METHODS Data from 29 European countries covering the years 2000-2012 and concerning male and female standardized suicidal rates (acco...

Plants are able to survive prolonged exposure to sub-zero temperatures; this ability is enhanced by pre-exposure to low, but above-zero temperatures. This process, known as cold acclimation, is briefly reviewed from the perception of cold, through transduction of the low-temperature signal to functional analysis of cold-induced gene products. The stresses that freezing of apoplastic water impos...

Understanding local adaptation of tree populations to climate allows the development of assisted migration guidelines as a tool for forest managers to address climate change. Here, we study the relationship among climate, a wide range of physiological traits, and field performance of selected white spruce provenances originating from throughout the species range. Tree height, survival, cold har...

Until now, nonnative plant species were rarely found at high elevations and latitudes. However, partly because of climate warming, biological invasions are now on the rise in these extremely cold environments. These plant invasions make it timely to undertake a thorough experimental assessment of what has previously been holding them back. This knowledge is key to developing efficient managemen...

Coral bleaching events have become more frequent and widespread, largely due to elevated sea surface temperatures. Global climate change could lead to increased variability of sea surface temperatures, through influences on climate systems, e.g. El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Field observations in 1999, following a strong ENSO, revealed that corals bleached in winter after unusually cold ...