In a study published in Environmental Research Letters, researchers stated that peat bogs, which are wetlands containing high levels of carbon from decaying vegetation accumulated over centuries, could play a crucial role in helping the world reach climate goals such as limiting postindustrial warming to 2 degrees Celsius as outlined in the 2015 Paris agreement. Alexander Popp, a senior scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, highlighted the importance of protecting and restoring peatlands, as achieving certain greenhouse gas emission targets would be extremely challenging or nearly impossible without these efforts. Despite covering only 3% of the global land area, peatlands contain vast amounts of carbon, roughly double the amount found in the world's forests, making them valuable resources in the fight against climate change. When undisturbed, carbon in untouched bogs remains wet and preserved. However, if a bog is drained for farming or other purposes, the carbon begins to oxidize and is released into the air as carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, contributing to global warming. This cycle can last for hundreds of years. It is currently believed that drained peatlands around the world release the same amount of carbon dioxide each year as the entire aviation industry. Additionally, dried peat is highly flammable, and peat fires have the potential to rapidly release large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. During September and October 2015, Indonesia experienced peat fires due to the drainage of bogs for palm oil plantations and other reasons, resulting in the release of carbon dioxide at a rate higher than that of all the fossil fuels burned in the European Union. Restoring dried peatlands by allowing them to become wet once again could prevent further carbon dioxide release and eliminate the risk of fires. "Rewetting them is crucial for achieving mitigation goals," Popp stated. Most climate change mitigation strategies predict that by the end of the century, land use, including forests and agriculture, will act as a carbon sink, storing more carbon than it releases, which will help slow global warming. The researchers pointed out that many pathways do not consider emissions from degraded peatland. When they included peatland data in their land-use model, they discovered that land use would release more carbon dioxide than it stored. By protecting pristine wetlands and restoring 60% of degraded ones, land use could become a net carbon sink again. Mike Waddington, a peat researcher at McMaster University, praised the study for making a strong argument in support of peatland restoration, noting that peatlands are highly effective in storing carbon despite their small size. He emphasized the significance of peatlands in regulating the global climate. The study pointed out that in current efforts to change land use to help the climate, such as planting trees, peatlands are often seen as disposable. Waddington stated that the focus is usually on planting trees to store carbon, but there is a misconception that drained peatlands should be planted with trees, when in fact an intact bog has a greater capacity for carbon storage. Peat bogs are typically dried out by digging ditches, leading to water drainage. Some peatlands are also drained to extract peat for horticulture or fuel, in addition to being converted to croplands or tree plantations. Waddington stated that draining a small portion of a peatland and extracting peat can turn the entire system into a source. Restoring the peatlands could involve blocking ditches or building berms to maintain saturation. The study revealed uncertainty in cost estimates for protecting and restoring peatlands, but the fundamental conclusion remained the same. Waddington described this as an easily achievable task. Copyright 2020 The New York Times Company.