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Prompt rewetting of drained peatlands reduces climate warming despite methane emissions

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  • Anke Günther

    (University of Rostock, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Studies, Landscape Ecology)

  • Alexandra Barthelmes

    (University of Greifswald, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Peatland Studies and Paleoecology
    Greifswald Mire Centre (GMC))

  • Vytas Huth

    (University of Rostock, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Studies, Landscape Ecology)

  • Hans Joosten

    (University of Greifswald, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Peatland Studies and Paleoecology
    Greifswald Mire Centre (GMC))

  • Gerald Jurasinski

    (University of Rostock, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Studies, Landscape Ecology)

  • Franziska Koebsch

    (University of Rostock, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Studies, Landscape Ecology)

  • John Couwenberg

    (University of Greifswald, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Peatland Studies and Paleoecology
    Greifswald Mire Centre (GMC))

Abstract

Peatlands are strategic areas for climate change mitigation because of their matchless carbon stocks. Drained peatlands release this carbon to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2). Peatland rewetting effectively stops these CO2 emissions, but also re-establishes the emission of methane (CH4). Essentially, management must choose between CO2 emissions from drained, or CH4 emissions from rewetted, peatland. This choice must consider radiative effects and atmospheric lifetimes of both gases, with CO2 being a weak but persistent, and CH4 a strong but short-lived, greenhouse gas. The resulting climatic effects are, thus, strongly time-dependent. We used a radiative forcing model to compare forcing dynamics of global scenarios for future peatland management using areal data from the Global Peatland Database. Our results show that CH4 radiative forcing does not undermine the climate change mitigation potential of peatland rewetting. Instead, postponing rewetting increases the long-term warming effect through continued CO2 emissions.

Suggested Citation

  • Anke Günther & Alexandra Barthelmes & Vytas Huth & Hans Joosten & Gerald Jurasinski & Franziska Koebsch & John Couwenberg, 2020. "Prompt rewetting of drained peatlands reduces climate warming despite methane emissions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-5, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-15499-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15499-z
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    Cited by:

    1. Robert Czubaszek & Agnieszka Wysocka-Czubaszek & Wendelin Wichtmann & Piotr Banaszuk, 2021. "Specific Methane Yield of Wetland Biomass in Dry and Wet Fermentation Technologies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-20, December.
    2. Andrey Sirin & Maria Medvedeva & Vladimir Korotkov & Victor Itkin & Tatiana Minayeva & Danil Ilyasov & Gennady Suvorov & Hans Joosten, 2021. "Addressing Peatland Rewetting in Russian Federation Climate Reporting," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-17, November.
    3. Sommer, Pia & Lakner, Sebastian & Nordt, Anke & Tanneberger, Franziska & Wegmann, Johannes, 2022. "Der Kohleausstieg als politisches Modell für die Moorwiedervernässung? Eine Aufstellung der Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede," 62nd Annual Conference, Stuttgart, Germany, September 7-9, 2022 329599, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    4. Alex C Valach & Kuno Kasak & Kyle S Hemes & Tyler L Anthony & Iryna Dronova & Sophie Taddeo & Whendee L Silver & Daphne Szutu & Joseph Verfaillie & Dennis D Baldocchi, 2021. "Productive wetlands restored for carbon sequestration quickly become net CO2 sinks with site-level factors driving uptake variability," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-22, March.

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