Northern Boreal Forest

The boreal forest (taiga) is the world's largest terrestrial biome — a vast belt of coniferous forest circling the northern hemisphere across Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia, and Russia. Spanning approximately 14 million km², it represents about 30% of the world's forest cover. It stores more carbon than any other land ecosystem and is home to wolves, bears, lynx, wolverines, moose, and billions of migratory birds. The boreal forest is warming faster than any other biome except Arctic tundra — temperatures are rising 2–3 times the global average. Longer fire seasons are burning millions of acres annually; the Canadian boreal fires of 2023 burned a record 18 million hectares, releasing more CO₂ than the entire country emits in a year.