According to a recent United Nations report, forested areas in Europe, North America, the Caucasus, and Central Asia have grown steadily over the past two decades. While tropical areas have steadily lost their forests to excessive logging and increased agriculture, northern areas have seen increases caused by conservation efforts. However, the long-term health and stability of northern forest lands may be imperiled by the effects of climate change.
The UN says that forests in these areas have grown by 25 million hectares in the last 20 years.
These forests play a great role in the world’s carbon cycle, acting as a repository for carbon dioxide, a primary greenhouse gas. Northern forests account for about 40 percent of the world’s forest according to the UNECE. They are generally classified as boreal or temperate. The 25 million hectares which these forests have increased is slightly larger than all of the United Kingdom, and accounts for 8 percent of all the forest in the region. Most of the increase has occurred on the Eurasian continent; North America accounts for only a fifth of the growth.
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