Northern Bogs and Global Warming
Wednesday, 18. October 2006, 16:41:54
First a bit of very simple chemistry, only including 3 elements:
H, Hydrogen
O, Oxygen
C,Carbon
They enter into 3 greenhouse gases:
Water vapour, H2O
Carbon dioxide, CO2
Methane, CH4
And now on to wetlands, and especially peatlands or bogs.
Bogs hold a lot of water (H2O) and plant material (mainly Sphagnum (peat moss)) containing Carbon (C). At the bottom all oxygen (O) is used and a lot of Methane (CH4) is generated.
What I here stress is that bogs are a Carbon sink and a Methane producer, which means that they have a great influence on atmospheric greenhouse gases and thereby on global warming.
In the report “Rapid Early Development of Circumarctic Peatlands and Atmospheric CH4 and CO2 Variations” published in the journal Science of 13 October 2006 the authors describe their analysis of dates on initiation of northern bogs over the last 18 thousand years.
Science of 13 October 2006, pp. 285 – 288. Abstract at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/314/5797/285
Today peatlands cover about 4 million km2 across Eurasia and North America and represent the biggest wetland complex in the world. They probably store 180 to 455 million ton of carbon and releases 20 billion to 45 billion ton per year of CH4 into the atmosphere. (I hope I got my figures right, I had to fight with a lot of zeros).
Methane is said to be up to 23 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, so knowing a potential source of methane is important in a global warming context.
Methane gas released by peat bogs in the northern-most third of the globe probably helped fuel the last major round of global warming, which drew the ice age to a close between 11,000 and 12,000 years ago, and which is much earlier than would have expected according to Milankovitch climate cycles. The message, I think, is that global warming and cooling is not only a question of natural cycles of solar insolation, but greenhouse gases, including from human activities, also play an important role.
H, Hydrogen
O, Oxygen
C,Carbon
They enter into 3 greenhouse gases:
Water vapour, H2O
Carbon dioxide, CO2
Methane, CH4
And now on to wetlands, and especially peatlands or bogs.
Bogs hold a lot of water (H2O) and plant material (mainly Sphagnum (peat moss)) containing Carbon (C). At the bottom all oxygen (O) is used and a lot of Methane (CH4) is generated.
What I here stress is that bogs are a Carbon sink and a Methane producer, which means that they have a great influence on atmospheric greenhouse gases and thereby on global warming.
In the report “Rapid Early Development of Circumarctic Peatlands and Atmospheric CH4 and CO2 Variations” published in the journal Science of 13 October 2006 the authors describe their analysis of dates on initiation of northern bogs over the last 18 thousand years.
Science of 13 October 2006, pp. 285 – 288. Abstract at http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/314/5797/285
Today peatlands cover about 4 million km2 across Eurasia and North America and represent the biggest wetland complex in the world. They probably store 180 to 455 million ton of carbon and releases 20 billion to 45 billion ton per year of CH4 into the atmosphere. (I hope I got my figures right, I had to fight with a lot of zeros).Methane is said to be up to 23 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, so knowing a potential source of methane is important in a global warming context.
Methane gas released by peat bogs in the northern-most third of the globe probably helped fuel the last major round of global warming, which drew the ice age to a close between 11,000 and 12,000 years ago, and which is much earlier than would have expected according to Milankovitch climate cycles. The message, I think, is that global warming and cooling is not only a question of natural cycles of solar insolation, but greenhouse gases, including from human activities, also play an important role.
- http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2006/1763942.htm
- http://www.physorg.com/news79966811.html
- http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-10/uoc--nbm101206.php
You must be logged in to write a comment. if you're not a registered member, please 
