June 2023, NYC smoke from the Canadian Boreal Forest burning. Photo Credit Gary Hershorn / Getty Images.
A snowballing heat effect appears to have begun. Yet humanity holds on to the past with no real response, only jokes about increasing heat effects. Mass famine could start to occur in the next 20 years across the Earth, and with that a collapse of the world's economies.
BOREAL QUICK FACTS
Is the world’s largest intact forest ecosystem. It stretches across 1.2 billion acres (485 million hectares) of northern Canada, from the Yukon to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Represents 25 percent of the world’s remaining intact forest, even more than the Amazon rainforest.
Contains 25 percent of the world’s wetlands.
Includes more surface freshwater—about 200 million acres (81 million hectares)—than anywhere else on Earth.
Is North America’s bird nursery. Each year, 1 billion to 3 billion birds migrate north from the United States—and from as far away as South America—to nest in Canada’s boreal forest. Between 3 billion and 5 billion return south each fall after a successful breeding season.
Stores twice as much carbon per acre as tropical rainforests.
In all, Canada’s boreal forests and peatlands lock in a minimum of 229 billion tons of carbon. Peatlands, also known as bogs and fens, are wetlands that include vegetation such as sphagnum mosses, shrubs, and spruce. This natural carbon storage helps cool the planet and provides a critical bulwark against climate change.
Is home to some of the cleanest and deepest freshwater lakes on the planet. Great Bear Lake, in the Northwest Territories, is considered the world’s largest unpolluted lake. Great Slave Lake, also in the Northwest Territories, is North America’s deepest.
Get Inspired. Take Action. Be a Part of the Green Revolution.
Most of us sense that taking a walk in a forest is good for us. We take a break from the rush of our daily lives. We enjoy the beauty and peace of being in a natural setting. Learn to identify the varieties of trees and plant life. Listen to the sounds of the forest. Enjoy forest birding, listening and looking for the amazing varieties of avian species as you walk along the forest path.
Now, research is showing that visiting a forest has real, quantifiable health benefits, both mental and physical. Even five minutes around trees or in green spaces may improve health. Think of it as a prescription with no negative side effects that's also free!
EarthForests Network Organizations
AfricanForests • AmazonForests • AsianForests • AvianSociety •EuropeanForests
•NorthAmericanForests • OceaniaForests • RaptorSociety • SouthAmericanForests