Prompt rewetting of drained peatlands reduces climate warming despite methane emissions
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 (C...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2020-04-01
|
| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15499-z |
| _version_ | 1827284195339141120 |
|---|---|
| author | Anke Günther Alexandra Barthelmes Vytas Huth Hans Joosten Gerald Jurasinski Franziska Koebsch John Couwenberg |
| author_facet | Anke Günther Alexandra Barthelmes Vytas Huth Hans Joosten Gerald Jurasinski Franziska Koebsch John Couwenberg |
| author_sort | Anke Günther |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T09:51:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-01bdb8fd27a4481b9caa54dd1fd6390f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T09:51:44Z |
| publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-01bdb8fd27a4481b9caa54dd1fd6390f2024-04-14T11:20:12ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232020-04-011111510.1038/s41467-020-15499-zPrompt rewetting of drained peatlands reduces climate warming despite methane emissionsAnke Günther0Alexandra Barthelmes1Vytas Huth2Hans Joosten3Gerald Jurasinski4Franziska Koebsch5John Couwenberg6University of Rostock, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Studies, Landscape EcologyUniversity of Greifswald, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Peatland Studies and PaleoecologyUniversity of Rostock, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Studies, Landscape EcologyUniversity of Greifswald, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Peatland Studies and PaleoecologyUniversity of Rostock, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Studies, Landscape EcologyUniversity of Rostock, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Studies, Landscape EcologyUniversity of Greifswald, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Peatland Studies and PaleoecologyAbstract 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.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15499-z |
| spellingShingle | Anke Günther Alexandra Barthelmes Vytas Huth Hans Joosten Gerald Jurasinski Franziska Koebsch John Couwenberg Prompt rewetting of drained peatlands reduces climate warming despite methane emissions Nature Communications |
| title | Prompt rewetting of drained peatlands reduces climate warming despite methane emissions |
| title_full | Prompt rewetting of drained peatlands reduces climate warming despite methane emissions |
| title_fullStr | Prompt rewetting of drained peatlands reduces climate warming despite methane emissions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prompt rewetting of drained peatlands reduces climate warming despite methane emissions |
| title_short | Prompt rewetting of drained peatlands reduces climate warming despite methane emissions |
| title_sort | prompt rewetting of drained peatlands reduces climate warming despite methane emissions |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15499-z |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ankegunther promptrewettingofdrainedpeatlandsreducesclimatewarmingdespitemethaneemissions AT alexandrabarthelmes promptrewettingofdrainedpeatlandsreducesclimatewarmingdespitemethaneemissions AT vytashuth promptrewettingofdrainedpeatlandsreducesclimatewarmingdespitemethaneemissions AT hansjoosten promptrewettingofdrainedpeatlandsreducesclimatewarmingdespitemethaneemissions AT geraldjurasinski promptrewettingofdrainedpeatlandsreducesclimatewarmingdespitemethaneemissions AT franziskakoebsch promptrewettingofdrainedpeatlandsreducesclimatewarmingdespitemethaneemissions AT johncouwenberg promptrewettingofdrainedpeatlandsreducesclimatewarmingdespitemethaneemissions |