China’s Threat to Russia’s Amazon

Putin and Xi’s “new levels of cooperation” spell disaster for the Siberian taiga

Photo by Roman Purtov on Unsplash

When exactly will the forest end? I had this thought 30-odd years ago while crossing the Russian taiga on the Trans-Siberian Railroad from St. Petersburg to Irkutsk. For hours and then days, the massive boreal aggregation of pines and firs, hemlocks and spruces strobed past…