The biggest source of lost forests is in Russia and Canada. It's not forest lost to deforestation, logging or clearing land for agriculture, but boreal forest consumed by wildfires. A climate change feedback? Probably.
Some 43,000 square kilometres of northern boreal forest were ravaged in Russia, due mainly to fires, in 2013, while Canada shed another 24,500 square kilometres — amounting to a "very significant" loss in tree cover, according to Dr. Nigel Sizer of GFW, an interactive, online forest-monitoring and alert system based in Washington.
The data comes from GFW, the University of Maryland and Google.
Both Canada and Russia have seen unusually numerous forest fires in recent years, something Sizer says might be attributed to factors including climate change.
It's hard to imagine this would be a shock in either country where even the tundra is thawing and being consumed by wildfires.
The loss of 25,000 sq. kms. of boreal forest is pretty massive but keep it in perspective. The province of Alberta, for example, has an area of 661,000 sq. kms. Nunavut is over 2-million sq. kms. Canada's lost boreal forest is more like five Prince Edward Islands (without five Mike Duffys).
Showing posts with label boreal forest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boreal forest. Show all posts
Thursday, April 02, 2015
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Canada - "The World's Waterkeeper"
The US-based, non profit Pew Environment Group is urging Canada to protect our boreal forests which they claim do more to reduce global carbon emissions than even the Amazon rainforests.
Steve Kallick, the director of Pew’s international boreal conservation camp, said American researchers were stunned to learn exactly how much fresh water and how many carbon-draining peat bogs are located in the forest that cover the top of Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and the far north across to Alaska.
..The Pew study says the bulwark provided by boreal ecosystems against the loss of biodiversity and global warming have an estimated value of $700-billion annually.
The forests contain half of the world’s lakes that are larger than a square kilometre in size; 50 of the world’s largest rivers; 200 million acres of surface water; and Great Bear Lake, the world’s largest remaining unpolluted body of fresh water.
In addition, the report says, the wetlands and peatlands store an estimated 147 billion tonnes of carbon, more than 25 years worth of current man-made emissions. The delta of the Mackenzie River alone stores 41 billion tonnes.
Boreal Aerials from Enviro on Vimeo.
Steve Kallick, the director of Pew’s international boreal conservation camp, said American researchers were stunned to learn exactly how much fresh water and how many carbon-draining peat bogs are located in the forest that cover the top of Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and the far north across to Alaska.
..The Pew study says the bulwark provided by boreal ecosystems against the loss of biodiversity and global warming have an estimated value of $700-billion annually.
The forests contain half of the world’s lakes that are larger than a square kilometre in size; 50 of the world’s largest rivers; 200 million acres of surface water; and Great Bear Lake, the world’s largest remaining unpolluted body of fresh water.
In addition, the report says, the wetlands and peatlands store an estimated 147 billion tonnes of carbon, more than 25 years worth of current man-made emissions. The delta of the Mackenzie River alone stores 41 billion tonnes.
Boreal Aerials from Enviro on Vimeo.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)