World's Largely Unprotected Peatlands Are Ticking 'Carbon Bomb,' Warns Study (theguardian.com) 25
The world's peatlands are "dangerously underprotected" despite the colossal amount of climate-heating carbon dioxide already being emitted due to their destruction, a study has warned. From a report: Peatlands occupy just 3% of all land, but contain more carbon than all of the world's forests. However, farmers and miners are draining the peatlands, releasing so much CO2 that if they were a country, they would be the fourth biggest polluter in the world after China, the US and India.
The first global assessment found that only 17% of the peatlands were within protected areas. This contrasted starkly with other valuable ecosystems such as tropical forests, where 38% were protected, and mangroves (42%). Protection was even lower than the 17% average in the three nations with the most peatlands: Canada, Russia and Indonesia. The US and Brazil completed the top five nations, which contained almost three-quarters of all peatlands, and had higher proportions in protected areas. But the researchers cautioned that protected status on a map did not always translate to strong protection on the ground.
The first global assessment found that only 17% of the peatlands were within protected areas. This contrasted starkly with other valuable ecosystems such as tropical forests, where 38% were protected, and mangroves (42%). Protection was even lower than the 17% average in the three nations with the most peatlands: Canada, Russia and Indonesia. The US and Brazil completed the top five nations, which contained almost three-quarters of all peatlands, and had higher proportions in protected areas. But the researchers cautioned that protected status on a map did not always translate to strong protection on the ground.
WTF are peatlands? (Score:5, Informative)
Peatlands are terrestrial wetland ecosystems in which waterlogged conditions prevent plant material from fully decomposing. Consequently, the production of organic matter exceeds its decomposition, which results in a net accumulation of peat. In cool climates, peatland vegetation is mostly made up of Sphagnum mosses, sedges and shrubs and are the primary builder of peat, whereas in warmer climates graminoids and woody vegetation provide most of the organic matter.
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Oh for Peat's sake, we already knew that.
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The real question I wanna ask is, why is there any peatland left that isn't being lined up for Scotch distilleries? Laphroaig is my preference, but there's also Lagavulin, and Ardbeg, not to mention several others. Come on, are we men, or are we whining, simpering do nothings! Give us scotch, or give us reasonable facsimiles of scotch. And no, that Texas whiskey that tastes like a god damned mesquite fire is *NOT* a suitable substitute. Fuck sake, have some dignity, Texas.
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Oh that's easy, because peat tastes like penicillin, it's wrong to ruin perfectly good whisky with it and you are wrong for liking it. ;)
offsets by new habitats and other systems? (Score:2)
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Since 1600, over 90% of the old-growth forests that once covered the Continental US have been burned, logged, and cleared away. That is a mindbogglingly huge amount of carbon capture destroyed. Planting a few pine trees isn't going to help us. We are screwed.
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No. It sounds like we should be replacing the cleared forest with peat rather than more trees.
Make them valuable (Score:4, Insightful)
I personally am a fan of peated Scotch whiskies, so if we were to invest heavily in opening new distilleries manufacturing more of those delectable libations, it would go a long way to ensuring the long term health of the world's peatlands. My liver is willing to make the necessary sacrifices.
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Clever, but peat bogs are being burned to distill those Scotch whiskies, so I don't think that's going to help the conservation effort.
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I personally am a fan of peated Scotch whiskies, so if we were to invest heavily in opening new distilleries manufacturing more of those delectable libations, it would go a long way to ensuring the long term health of the world's peatlands. My liver is willing to make the necessary sacrifices.
What? Peated whisky is made by digging up the 1000-year-old peat. There's no capitalism/ownership solution in existence that protects investments with that long a timeline.
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^ This. This man is wise and has excellent taste.
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it would go a long way to ensuring the long term health of the world's peatlands
No.. quite the opposite. We need to lay a $50 per liter excise tax on all forms of scotch to be spent on the protection and construction of new peatlands and ensure a carbon capture rate exceeding rate of carbon released in the liberation of peat to make that scotch. If not the financial incentive is just to liberate all the peat that has to be sitting for millenia to attain that value.
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I doubt scotch has a big impact either way tbh, houses, roads, mini-malls and the like seem probably individually kill more peat than any given distillery will and there are far more of them.
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Yes but only so many people are willing to pretend scotch doesn't taste like shite just because it is expensive.
Laughable Attempt to Deflect from Human Damage (Score:1)
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Why are people here so fucking stupid? The peatlands are in danger BECAUSE of human actions. Read the fucking article.
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What is this twisted form of self-loathing and masochism leads to someone not only demanding humans be blamed but suffer in some way as the solution to the problem? We see this in other areas, people outraged at the idea of a pill that makes you fit and trim without work or boosts intelligence, at the notion of a virtual sex system wherein 2's both physically and in personality could do anything they like with 10's...
What breaks inside people to make them want to deny themselves and their fellow man a maxim
petlands (Score:1)
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It just means a bog.