Arctic warming spurs growth of carbon-soaking peatlands

Paris: Arctic peatlands are expanding as the climate warms, new research showed Thursday, a change that could slow global heating in the near term but...

Paris: Arctic peatlands are expanding as the climate warms, new research showed Thursday, a change that could slow global heating in the near term but have the opposite effect in future.

Peatlands are the largest terrestrial store of carbon, locking away twice as much heat-trapping CO2 from the atmosphere in their waterlogged soils as all the world's forests.

These carbon-rich reservoirs, composed of partially decayed organic matter, only cover three percent of Earth's surface, and generally fade out in the far north where harsh weather limits plant growth.

But warmer temperatures caused by climate change have improved growing conditions for plants in the Arctic, and satellite data has shown a general "greening" of this frosty region.

Using drones, satellite imagery and on-the-ground observations, an international team of scientists assessed peatlands in the European and Canadian Arctic to see if they had benefited from warmer climes.