Research by academics at Bangor University on test sites in Wales have revealed that droughts can “unlock" carbon in peat that has previously been trapped for centuries thanks to the “wetness" of peat - and the effects could last for as long as a decade afterwards.
Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, Dr Nathalie Fenner and Professor Chris Freeman warn the look and feel of our upland areas could be changed forever - and that species and habitats could be lost as a result of the loss of carbon from peatlands.
Many of the world's peatlands lie in regions predicted to experience increased and more severe droughts as a result of climate change.
The drying out of the peat could release vast stores of CO2 into the atmosphere over the course of a period up to a decade, even, when the drought has ended, the research concludes.
It was originally assumed that most of the CO2 was released from the dry peat, but the research reveals that the release of CO2 continues, and may even increase, when the peat is wetted again with rain. Read the full report here.
Source: by Graham Henry, Western Mail, Wales Online.co.uk.
