A new NASA study shows how lightning is driving forest fires and pushing it north. NASA confirms a likely link to climate change.
The worlds largest biome is named after Boreal the Greek goddess of the North Wind. The boreal forest is nearly a continuous belt of coniferous trees circling across North America, Europe and Asia. The trees grow on areas that were formerly glaciated, and in areas of patchy permafrost on all three continents. The region has 30 percent of the Earth’s forests and they store about 30 percent of the carbon found on the Earth’s surface.
The conditions are very harsh so there is not much diversity of life. Plant life is limited because most species can’t survive the extreme cold that lasts 6 months or more. Plant species, such as lichens and mosses will grow there as well as coniferous trees such as pine, spruce and fir which form the vast majority of the plant life that exists. The animals that do call the Boreal home tend to be predators like lynx, wolverines, bobcats and minks. They feed on the herbivores in the area such as rabbits, squirrels and voles. Larger mammals such as deer, elk, and moose can be found only in regions of the forest where some deciduous trees can grow. The boreal forests play a vital role in Earth's climate system by sequestering carbon dioxide.
Science Daily reports on the many challenges this biome is facing due to human induced climate change.
At the same time, boreal forests are one of the ecosystems most affected by climate change, with temperatures in the arctic and boreal domains recently warming at rates as high as 0.5°C per decade, and potential future warming of 6 to 11°C over vast northern regions by 2100, according to the IPCC's most pessimistic scenario, RCP 8.5.
Studies have shown that climate zones in boreal forests are moving northwards ten times faster than the trees' ability to migrate. Warmer and drier conditions and enhanced variability of climate may have already contributed to increased extent of wildfires, and the spread of outbreaks of dangerous insects. Thawing permafrost poses threats to the hydrological system at the continental scale, as well as the potential of releasing huge amounts of CO2 and methane. Locally, increasing non-forestry industrial development, accompanied by air pollution, soil and water contamination, might reinforce the negative impacts of climate change. Overall, these factors mean that huge areas of boreal forest will be at high risk of impoverishment or change to grassland or shrubland.
"These forests evolved under cold conditions, and we do not know enough about the impacts of warming on their resilience and buffering capacity," says Shvidenko.