Uniquely, an Australian subtropical peatland ecosystem exists that is not only resilient to the frequent bushfires, but actually needs fire to survive.
When it comes to storing carbon, alpine peatlands are powerhouses. But feral horse grazing and trampling tips the carbon balance in the other direction. We need to protect and restore our peatlands.
Police find bog body dated over 2,000 years in Bellaghy.
Police Service of Northern Ireland
Large stretches of the Arctic are carbon-rich peat bogs. As the region warms and dries, lightning strikes can spark underground fires that can burn for years.
An adult male orangutan contemplates his next move in haze produced by Indonesia’s 2015 wildfires.
Wendy Erb
Orangutans are vocal animals, so analyzing their calls during events like wildfires can indicate how smoke is affecting their health.
Smouldering fire in a drained peatland near Fort McMurray, Alta. produces smoke from underground. These ecosystems are affected by rising temperatures, drought, wildfire and various human actions including drainage.
(Leyland Cecco)
Peatlands have always had a place in art, writing and poetry. In times of global warming these cultural reflections can help open up debate about the biodiversity and climate crisis.
A drone image of part of the Angolan Highlands.
Mauro Lourenco
The Angolan Highlands are hydrologically and ecologically important - and the region’s newly mapped peatlands are valuable “carbon sinks”.
Professor Corneille Ewango of the University of Kisangani in a peat swamp.
along the Ikelemba River, Democratic Republic of Congo.
Bart Crezee/University of Leeds
The hunting territories of wolves in the northern boreal forests are changing, in part due to the convenience of trails built for logging. This has placed caribou at an even greater risk.
The world’s leaders have tried to stop deforestation before, but have had little success.
(AP Photo/Michael Probst)
The pledge to end deforestation holds great potential, but Canada has some work ahead if it is to make meaningful progress on the new goal and stop ongoing forest and carbon loss.
Northern European folklore had different ways of referring to distant lights known to spontaneously appear on peatlands, including will-o’-the-wisp, and the more familiar jack-o’-lantern.
(Shutterstock)
Peatlands have been central to how northern European folklore has explored fear and a sense of the supernatural for hundreds of years. Their persistence is also key to slowing down climate change.
Peat beds around the world hold huge quantities of carbon and keep it from warming the planet. But rising temperatures and over-use could turn them from a brake on climate change into an accelerant.