Radiative effects of anthropogenic changes in atmospheric composition are expected to cause climate changes, in particular an intensification of the global water cycle with a consequent increase in flood risk.

All ecosystems are exposed to gradual changes in climate, nutrient loading, habitat fragmentation or biotic exploitation. Nature is usually assumed to respond to gradual change in a smooth way. However, studies on lakes, coral reefs, oceans, forests and arid lands have shown that smooth change can be interrupted by sudden drastic switches to a contrasting state. Although diverse events can trigger such shifts, recent studies show that a loss of resilience usually paves the way for a switch to an alternative state.

The incidence of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in Sweden has substantially increased since the mid-1980s. During the same period the climate has become milder and ticks have become more abundant. We investigated whether there is a link between the change in climate and the increase in incidence of TBE.

This paper explores the potential implications of climate change for the use and management of water resources in Britain. It is based on a review of simulations of changes in river flows, groundwater recharge and river water quality. These simulations imply, under feasible climate change scenarios, that annual, winter and summer runoff will decrease in southern Britain, groundwater recharge will be reduced and that water quality – as characterised by nitrate concentrations and dissolved oxygen contents – will deteriorate.

In the last decade pan evaporation measured at the Southern Dead Sea has significantly increased. Wind, temperature and humidity measurements at the Dead Sea starting in the 1930s as well as 3-D model simulations all seem to indicate a statistically significant change in the local climate of the Dead Sea region. The potential contribution to this climatic change through the weakening of the local land-sea breeze circulation caused by the reduction in the Dead Sea surface area in 1979–1981, is examined.

Leaf fall and reproductive phenology of Avicennia marina assessed during 1982-83 using litter fall collections from twenty-five sites in Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand revealed major trends with latitude. Flowering shifted from NovemberDecember in northern tropical sites, to May-June in southern temperate sites. Periods between flowering and fruiting increased from two to three months in tropical sites to ten months in southernmost sites. Leaf fall was more variable with unimodal annual peaks in temperate sites and often multimodal patterns in the tropics.