World's northernmost forests also under threat from climate change

Green forest view from the top of Sulphur Mountain in Banff Alberta Canada. Photo: AFP

Fires considerably hamper forests' capacity to capture and store atmospheric carbon. And that's also the case for the planet's most northerly forests, researchers in the United States have found.

Forests play an essential role in capturing and storing carbon. But climate change poses a growing threat to these ecosystems. With fires and deforestation linked to human activity, the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has, for example, released more carbon than it absorbed in the last 10 years, according to recent research.