The Treeline: The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth

Visualize, if you will, the view of the top of the earth from a couple of hundred miles above the North Pole or, better yet, the view of the top of the head of a Medieval monk and his bald pate surrounded by a ring of hair. The latter element of the picture gives one what, in botanical/geographic terms, would be the Boreal Forest. The Treeline, by Ben Rawlence is an examination of that forest. Subtitled, The Last Forest and the Future Of Life On Earth, the book is serious, but also informative, and hopeful.

We often think of the Amazon jungle as the lungs of the earth, taking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and giving us oxygen. It contributes, but Rawlence informs his readers, the Boreal Forest that rings the top of the world is the largest living system on earth after the ocean. It is this forest that is truly the planet’s lungs, and they are starting to wheeze.

In order to understand how the changes to the earth’s climate are affecting the treeline, Rawlence turns his research to six tree species, each found in different locations. All of which, however, teach him the same lessons of the fragile nature of the earth’s ability to remain sustainable.

He writes: “But now that humanity has upset the planetary system of oceans, forests, winds and currents, the balance of gases in water and air that gave rise to our species, their consolations are in question. Trees no longer offer comfort, but warning.”

Climate change is increasingly visible, from extended and more violent hurricane seasons, to drought, brutal summers, warmer winters, flooding and wildfire. The earth’s atmosphere is not the same as that in which we grew up, whether, 15 to 20 or 60 or 70 years ago, let alone back when the “monk” lived within cloistered walls. The changes are affecting the Boreal Forest, too. Its occupants are moving north as they are trying to find cooler climates they need to survive.

Beginning in Wales, where he lives, with the yew, Rawlence reports the tree was one of the first to root when the last Ice Age ended about 10,000 years ago. The tree, he writes, finds sustenance in marginal soil that offers little nutrition, the type of soil that was left after the glaciers scraped the earth’s surface bare.

“As the ice moved north, the treeline slowly followed, taking root in meager soil, photosynthesizing, shedding its needles, then dying to create the rich fertile crust of the earth, laying the foundations for the habitats of all other terrestrial life.”

He continues: “This bright green halo is moving unnaturally fast, crowning the planet with a laurel of needles and leaves, turning the white Arctic green. The migration of the treeline is no longer a matter of inches per century; instead it is hundreds of feet every year. The trees are on the move. They shouldn’t be.”

As the planet warms, the permafrost is melting, releasing carbon dioxide into the air. This, in turn, brings more warming allowing the trees to increase their march north. A vicious cycle is underway.

The forests on the treeline tell us this story is true. We learn about the yew, the Scots pine, the downy birch, the Dahurian larch, the white/black spruce, the balsam poplar and the Greenland mountain ash. And we learn about the geology, geography, biology and climate where they grow and the people who live in the far north regions of the countries that are their homes, from Wales to Scotland, to Scandinavia to Russia to Alaska and on across Canada to Greenland.

Rawlence points to how humans have evolved since the last ice age as have forests. In that adaptability he sees hope for the future if we can recognize our way of life is a tiny dot in the span of time. We, and the trees that are the cornerstone of life, have lived and grown under industrial capitalism and colonialism, but that is also leading to the demise. That is not, however, the only model of life that occurred through the ages. He suggests it is incumbent that we recognize this and determine to use our ingenuity to create a new model that will find harmony in biodiversity rather than viewing what exists on the planet, including ourselves, as commodities to be bought and sold.

The book is far more than a botany text nor is it a political screed. Rawlence’s writing is clear, vivid and, at times, almost poetic. His words are there to be read and pondered. His message is critical thinking is needed to open our eyes to search for the unseen possibilities that stretch before us and wrap around us. The people of the far north he encountered, and the trees, show that adaptation is possible, and necessary.

As we look around us and recognize the recent, dramatic and dynamic changes that are occurring to the planet and human life on earth, we don’t have much choice but to confront this reality and change. We do or our children and grandchildren won’t have the memories of a livable world that has been ours for a very short time in the span of time.