Select Page

SOURCE: Climate Central

DATE: June 28, 2017

SNIP: Siberian wildfire season is off and running with multiple blazes searing the boreal forest and tundra. It’s the latest example of the vast shifts happening to the forests that cover Siberia and the rest of the northern tier of the world as climate change alters the landscape.

Those forests are burning at a rate unheard of in at least 10,000 years due largely to rising temperatures. They contain vast reserves of carbon stored in trees and soil and when they burn, they send that carbon into the atmosphere. That creates a dangerous cycle of more severe wildfires and ever rising temperatures.

Image: A satellite image captured on June 23, 2017 shows the extent of wildfires burning across Siberia. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory