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This map shows the active fires in Canada as of Wednesday, July 23. The blazes that have burned nearly 15 million acres of land, an area about the size of the entire state of West Virginia.
The Boreal Forests are going to burn until there is NOTHING LEFT to BURN.
Complete "ecosystem turnover" is happening "in real time" now.
- Unclothing the Emperor : Understanding “What’s Wrong” with our “Climate Paradigm” - Part 4. The PERMAFROST — is MELTING, “faster than expected”. (11/28/23)
The tree species that dominate Canada’s vast boreal forest, are black spruce and poplar. While the Canadian boreal forest is VAST (2.7 million sq km) unfortunately it is not a “diverse” forest.
“There are only a few tree species there, but they dominate our landmass.”
While the trees are well equipped to withstand the harsh northern winters. The same traits that give them an advantage in the cold make them poor candidates to survive in a warming world.
“What we’re finding is that climate change effects are causing high mortality in many boreal tree species, and those that survive actually consume less CO2.”
These findings are painting a picture quite different than the long-held assumption that climate change would benefit the northern forests. They suggest a “double whammy” effect in which the burning forests ADD CO2 to the atmosphere and then REMOVE less CO2 from the atmosphere because they are dying.
In fact, if Canada’s largest forest removes progressively less CO2 from the atmosphere, global greenhouse gas accumulation WILL occur MUCH faster than currently predicted.
“Without a doubt, the conifers of the boreal forest are more vulnerable to massive die-offs from climate change than broad-leaved species like poplar and birch.”
As more southern tree species, like maple, are predicted to migrate northwards, they will find the harsh environment, low light conditions, and thin soils of the boreal forest hostile to their presence. This means that the void left behind by retreating boreal species will not be easily replaced in a warmer world.
