a threat, assuming they all aren't cut down first

[Guest guest]

A Reuters article on the boreal forests and global warming.

 

 

Close Window

 

 

Global Warming Creates Grim Future for Forests

Last Updated: March 05, 2002 02:08 PM ET

Print This Article

 

By Kanina Holmes

 

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Global warming is becoming an increasing

threat

to forests in much of the world, paving the way for fires, droughts and pest

infestations, officials told an environmental conference on Tuesday.

 

Ola Ullsten, former Swedish prime minister and co-chairman of the World

Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development said the latest evidence

indicates that over half the world's boreal forest could disappear due to

the effect of

climate change as conditions shift.

 

" It's a very severe problem, " Ullsten told Reuters ahead of a conference in

Winnipeg

attended by timber industry representatives and environmentalists.

 

" If you want to illustrate the environmental dilemma the world is in, I

think what has

happened to the boreal forest in Manitoba, or you can probably take some

other

provinces as well, is a very good or tragic example of what might happen if

actions

aren't taken. "

 

Boreal, or northern, forests are a belt of mostly coniferous trees running

through

much of Canada, the United States, Russia, Scandinavia and parts of Mongolia

and

China. They make up about one-third of the Earth's forests and form the

basis for the

global timber industry.

 

Trees found there, including aspen, spruce, fir and pine, are uniquely

adapted to cold

northern climates, and experts say they are far more sensitive to

temperature

fluctuations than temperate or tropical species.

 

Ullsten said that the main way to combat the threat is to reduce the burning

of fossil

fuels, one of the main contributors to global atmospheric warming, and focus

on

alternative energy sources.

 

" When you think about what is likely to be done to make a real difference,

then you

have to turn to governments and then ask them, what do they want to do and

what

do they dare to, and then you get more pessimistic, " said Ullsten.

 

He said many scientists believe that a winter temperature rise of as little

as 5 degrees

Fahrenheit over the next half century could destroy half the world's boreal

forests.

 

A United Nations panel on climate change has predicted that the most rapid

and

sweeping changes to the boreal belt will be from more climate-driven natural

disturbances, notably increased forest fires and pest outbreaks, as trees

become

more vulnerable and conditions more conducive to certain beetles and

insects.

 

 

 

 

 

© Copyright Reuters 2002. All rights reserved. Any copying, re-publication

or re-distribution of Reuters content

or of any content used on this site, including by framing or similar means,

is expressly prohibited without prior

written consent of Reuters.