Climate change: UK peat emissions could cancel forest benefits
Emissions from UK peatland could cancel out all carbon reduction achieved through new and existing forests, warns the countryside charity CPRE.
It says many degraded peatlands are actually increasing carbon emissions.
Yet, it says, there has been much more focus from the government and media on forests than on peat bogs.
The government’s advisory committee on climate change told BBC News that it agreed with the conclusions of the analysis.
Both that committee and the CPRE are urging more ambitious action to protect and enhance peatlands.
A peat bog is a Jekyll and Hyde thing. A wet, pristine peat bog soaks up CO2 and, unlike trees, has no limit to the amount of carbon it captures. Trees only capture CO2 until they are mature.
But a dry, degraded bog – like many in England’s uplands – is a big source of CO2 as the carbon in the bog oxidises.
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