Timber! Oh Pollyanna, you bitch!

Losing boreal stands could change climate

Canada must quickly adapt to climate change in northern forests or it could become too hot and dry for trees to survive, warns a report by a national advisory agency. The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, an independent body created by the federal government, says losing trees on the southern fringes of the boreal region would affect the forestry industry and the communities it serves. It would also have a global impact. Boreal forests make up the northernmost treed zone in the northern hemisphere. They are the largest storehouse of carbon in the world with nearly twice as much of the element as tropical rain forests. Much of this carbon is in the ground in vast stretches of peatlands. If the carbon is disturbed by fire or plow, it combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide, a gas responsible for climate change. "So what happens to the boreal has a big impact on what happens to the climate," said Cathy Wilkinson, director of the Canadian Boreal Initiative. "If all that carbon is released, it can actually contribute to climate change."
(Montreal Gazette 051101)

So, all the carbon is going to come out of the peat bogs of the Northern Hemisphere and all the methane is going to come out of the deep ocean layers once everything warms up and starts to circulate. This will only add to the lopsided atmospheric makeup.