by Peat bogs capture much more carbon per acre than forests. Currently, peatlands store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests . One problem is that they are being drained to free up the land. (also but I think less importantly peat and non-rotten sphagnum moss are harvested for gardening). Various sources (most or all of which seem to be advocacy organisations – yes there are pro-bog advocacy organizations) claim that this causes 10% of global carbon emissions. The more nearly neutral Pew Charitable Trust estimates 5%. Either way, this is a huge amount, but also an opportunity to fight climate change by reflooding the now drained bogs. I am thinking of more than just ceasing this or even restoring natural peatlands. It seems to me that it
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Peat bogs capture much more carbon per acre than forests. Currently, peatlands store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests . One problem is that they are being drained to free up the land. (also but I think less importantly peat and non-rotten sphagnum moss are harvested for gardening). Various sources (most or all of which seem to be advocacy organisations – yes there are pro-bog advocacy organizations) claim that this causes 10% of global carbon emissions. The more nearly neutral Pew Charitable Trust estimates 5%. Either way, this is a huge amount, but also an opportunity to fight climate change by reflooding the now drained bogs.
I am thinking of more than just ceasing this or even restoring natural peatlands. It seems to me that it should not be hard to create artificial peat bogs. They require 4 things: lots of water, low oxygenation, slight acidity, and Sphagnum moss. The land use would be very large but I think acceptable, as peat bogs currently store twice as much carbon as the world’s forests while occupying 2.83% of the Earth’s land surface.
Just to escape into fantasy, I think such artificial bogs with water slowly entering and draining could be used to reduce the nutrient content of rivers and prevent algae blooms in estuaries, Chesapeak bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
To escape into one of my nasty fantasies, and in total contrast, artificial peat bogs might possibly be combined with my long stated hope that incinerator emissions could be eliminated by bringing back garbage dumos (sealed with no runoff). A problem is methane emissions. This can be prevented because methanogenic bacteria can’t handle acidity. digging a hole, sealing it off, dumping in garbage and some acid then covering it with Sphagnum is my new anti global warming fantasy> I have not considered cost, permitting processes, or local opposition.