A global, sun-blocking catastrophe like nuclear war, an asteroid strike,
or super volcano eruption spells disaster for most aspects of life as we
know it. There have been many studies on how differing magnitudes of
sun-blocking catastrophes would affect the global climate, and many
mention the effects of this cold, dark climate on forests and cropping
systems. However, few studies have solely focused on the effects of
nuclear winter on forests in terms of food, resources, and
decomposition. Forests already provide over a billion people with food
and fuel for their livelihoods. In this review we connect how
prehistoric catastrophes affected the world's forests to how a current
day catastrophe may affect forest health, forest resource availability,
and wood decomposition rates. We briefly discuss how forest resources
may be used in this post-catastrophe climate for food and fuel in an
energy and fuel depleted world. We use this information to make policy
and education suggestions to prepare for future catastrophes, build
resilience from smaller local disasters, prepare for the many effects of
climate change, and discourage nuclear weapon stockpiling.