It is difficult to isolate a distinctive dendroclimatology for the Southern Hemisphere. However, its geography raises some special issues of which dendroclimatologists in the Southern Hemisphere need to be aware. (1) Eighty percent of the Southern Hemisphere is covered by water. Heat transport by the Southern Oceans has special relevance as a major determinant of current climates and an influence on how climates were in the past and might be in the future. The potential of tree–rings to provide information on past ocean temperatures for the Southern Hemisphere has been noted, but quantitative estimates of past sea–surface temperature still need to be developed. (2) The Antarctic ice sheet contains more than 90% of the world’s ice. Any climatic change in Antarctica would impact the global climate, but particularly that of the Southern Hemisphere. Tree–ring records at higher latitudes, in connection with ice–cores from Antarctica, should be used to understand the patterns of long–term atmospheric circulation at higher latitudes. (3) Although the influence of El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is not exclusive to the Southern Hemisphere, there is an increasing level of confidence of ENSO phenomena as a useful predictor of climate variations in the Southern Hemisphere. Trees from Indonesia–Australia and South America, the geographical poles strongly impacted by ENSO, should be able to provide consistent information on past ENSO events. (4) Tree–ring records from the southern tip of South America should be employed to monitor any change in tree– growth related to abnormal levels of ultraviolet radiation related to the Antarctic ozone hole. (5) Pollution and acid rain are not widespread problems in the temperate ecosystems of the Southern Hemisphere. Consequently, tree–ring studies in the Southern Hemisphere offer the opportunity for properly assessing the relative importance of human interference (e.g. C02 fertilization) versus environmental changes on forests.