Effects of climate change on boreal forests in CanadaThe boreal forest in Canada covers approximately one third of the entire boreal forest in the polar region of the northern hemisphere . There are also other countries partly covered by the boreal forest such as Russia and Nordic and Scandinavian countries such as Norway, Finland and Sweden. In Canada, the boreal region covers approximately 60% of the land area, from Labrador and Newfoundland to the provinces of Alaska and the Yukon. This area is mainly covered by coniferous forests with high biodiversity (Woynillowicz, et al, 67). Boreal forests store carbon which controls the rate of global warming caused by human activities. The process is natural through photosynthesis where trees and plants absorb carbon from the atmosphere as they grow. The absorption of carbon by trees and plants in the forest helps slow global warming. This makes the forest the largest reservoir of carbon, surpassing other carbon storage areas such as the Amazon. It contains about 22% of all the carbon stored on earth. Carbon is normally stored in forests, terrestrial vegetation, soils, lake sediments and peat (Tarnocai, 228). The boreal forest ecosystem is suitable for carbon storage because it contains an enormous amount of carbon per unit area than any terrestrial ecosystem. The boreal forest stores twice as much carbon as tropical forests and about three times as much carbon as temperate forests. This is because boreal forests are found in cold regions, which reduces the rate of decomposition, and wetlands are rich in carbon. The carbon stored in Canada's boreal forest is approximately 208 billion tonnes, of which approximately 56% is stored in peat. The rest...... middle of paper ......se Change and forestry. RT Watson, IR Noble, B. Bolin, NH Ravindranath, DJ Verardo and DJ Dokken (eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK 2000. Randerson, JT et al. The impact of boreal forest fires on global warming. Science, 2006. Vol. 314:1130-1132. Riley, JL Flora of the Hudson Bay Lowlands and its postglacial origins. NRC Scientific Press, Ottawa, Canada. 2003, 236.Tarnocai, C. The effect of climate change on carbon in Canadian peatlands. Global and Planetary Change, 2006, 53: 222-232. Wayburn, LA, FJ Franklin, JC Gordon, CS Blinkey, DJ Mlandenoff, and NL Christian, Jr. Forest carbon in the United States: opportunities and options for private lands. The Pacific Forest Trust, Inc. Santa Rosa, California. 2000 Woynillowicz, D. et al. Tar sands fever, the implications of the tar sands rush in Canada. Pembina Institute Report. 2005, 66-69.