Lungs of Europe Burning
Posted on May 31, 2005
Scientists are concerned about fire and logging destroying the Siberian taiga, also known as the "lungs of Europe." The Siberian taigi contains half of the planet's evergreen trees and 1/5 of the world's forested area. National Geographic has a description and photograph of the Siberian taiga here. The Independent reports that large swathes are the forest are being destroyed by logging and fires caused by global warming.
Twenty years ago forest fires destroyed about two million hectares of Siberian forests - the loss of an area the size of Wales. Last year 22 million hectares - about half the size of France - were lost to fire. Russian forestry scientists said they were bracing themselves for this year's fire season, which starts in late June.Siberia's largest forest, the taiga, accounts for one fifth of the world's total forested land and contains half of the planet's evergreen forest. Yet in the space of a couple of decades this seemingly unlimited expanse of trees has suffered an unprecedented tenfold increase in the rate of deforestation caused by fire.