Canada's boreal forests have adapted to burning events, but they are now burning more than they should and can't grow back fast enough.
According to The New York Times, increasing temperatures are causing more than double the amount of tree cover to be burned than 20 years ago.
What's happening?
Boreal forests in Western Canada have evolved to burn every century or so. What's alarming is that one patch of forest has burned twice in just a decade.
Boreal trees make up a significant proportion of these forests, and burning is part of their natural cycle. The trees' branches contain a flammable resin that fuels the fire and melts the waxy coating of the black spruce's cones. The cones then release seedlings for new trees to grow.
But if the fire burns too hot and too frequently, the seeds die, which is what has happened.
Why is declining black spruce trees concerning?
Per the Boreal Forests Research Association, these forests also hold a massive amount of polluting gases and are comparable to, if not better than, tropical forests.
According to the Times, the amount of carbon that soils hold decreases by 80% once trees are gone, and it takes several decades to be remedied.
The 2023 wildfire season spread to the size of the Netherlands, the second time this has happened in 50 years.
Researchers have monitored hundreds of sites, and a fifth of them haven't been able to grow more black spruce trees. That was even before the 2023 wildfire season.
The needles and bushy branches of black spruce trees play an important role in the forest, as the needles help keep moss alive and the branches catch snow, which makes the ground colder in winter.
When the black spruce trees die, others take their place, but their leaves fall in the winter, making it harder for moss to grow.
Philippe Ciais, a researcher at the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences, said that fires like there were in 2023 are "completely absent from the current climate models."
Another consequence was the smoke that traveled to parts of the United States. New York City had the worst air quality of any major city on June 7, 2023.
What's being done about the decline of boreal forests?
Jennifer Baltzer is one of the scientists collecting data from these forests, and she believes it could help manage forest fires and improve climate models. It will also inform what parts of wilderness are most important to protect.
Donating to relevant climate causes can help fund important research projects such as this. You can also make a difference by reducing the production of planet-warming pollution at home and in your garden. Harmful gases including carbon dioxide and methane exacerbate global heating and foster longer and more intense wildfire events.
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