The impact of wild boars on climate change: they emit more CO2 than a million cars

According to a new study, Wild boars release an estimated 4.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year worldwide, the equivalent of 1.1 million cars. These animals release the carbon trapped in the soil when they pull it out in search of food, functioning like a kind of tractor that plows the field. In addition, they warn that the wild pig population growth across the planet could become a serious threat to the climate.

Days after a study found that an area of ​​the Amazon emits more carbon dioxide than it absorbs, an international group of researchers set out to determine the climate impact What causes wild pig all over the planet. To do this, they used population prediction models and advanced mapping techniques. The team that published the study is led by researchers from the universities of Queensland (Australia) and Canterbury (New Zealand).

“When the soil is removed by man plowing a field or, in this case, by wild animals plowing it, carbon is released into the atmosphere.“explained the doctor Christopher O’Bryan, University of Queensland. The same expert explained why the study of the release of dioxide from the soil is essential: “Since soil contains nearly three times as much carbon as the atmosphere, even a small fraction of the carbon emitted by soil can accelerate climate change.“.

For the study, the team of specialists simulated 10,000 potential density maps of feral pigs in across the world, using existing models of the number and location of wild boar. Then, based on a long-term study of the damage caused by wild boars under different climatic conditions, vegetation types and altitudes, they developed a weathered soil surface pattern. Finally, the experts drew on previous research conducted in America, China and Europe to simulate the global carbon emissions that wild pigs produce in the soil.

The same researchers believe that wild boars are uproot an area between 36,000 and 124,000 square kilometers in areas where they are not originally. This not only affects soil health and carbon emissions, but alson threatens biodiversity and food securityDr O’Bryan added. Of course, it’s not all the boar’s fault, as Nicholas Patton of the University of Canterbury put it: “Invasive species are a man-made problem, so we must recognize and take responsibility for their environmental and ecological implications.“.