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Peatlands, soils rich in carbon dioxide, are among the most efficient carbon sinks on the planet. Forests and oceans are also known for their carbon storage capabilities, but peat can store more carbon than all of the world's combined vegetation.
Unfortunately, this means that peat bogs are just as massive carbon tanks waiting to be released.
As deforestation and climate change deteriorate more and more peatlands, there is a risk of a dangerous snowball effect with the carbon emissions of peatlands that fuel climate change.
Drained and deforested peatlands can release about 6% of the world's CO2 emissions each year.
A new study conducted by researchers from Purdue University found that increased precipitation and temperature will likely lead to carbon loss in peatlands in South America.
"World peatlands cover only about 3% of the world's total land area, but contain about 30% of soil organic carbon," said Qianlai Zhuang, a member of the research team in charge of the study. "Peatlands act as a" terrestrial ocean "because of their carbon sequestration, but will this large amount of peat carbon be released in a warmer climate, causing additional warming?"
The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The researchers focused on the peat bogs of the Peruvian Amazon and used a model of Earth systems that spanned a period of 12,000 years to 2100 AD.
According to the model, the Amazonian zone studied could lose 500 million tonnes of carbon by the end of the century, which is equivalent to five percent of current global total annual CO2 emissions from fossil fuels.
The researchers also found that increasing temperatures and rainfall in South America due to climate change would also increase peatland carbon losses.
Unlike Canada and Southeast Asia, Peru's peatlands are still intact and free from deforestation, but researchers fear that this will not be the case for long.
"If the area we examined could represent the entire Amazon or tropical peatlands, the loss of peat carbon in the atmosphere under future climate scenarios should be of great concern to our society," Zhuang said. "The intensification of agriculture and the increasing disruption of land use, such as forest fires, threaten the persistence of peat carbon stocks. These peatland ecosystems can become carbon sources rather than sinks unless the necessary steps are taken. "
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By Kay Vandette, Earth.com Editor
Image credit: State University of Arizona / Samantha Lloyd
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