October 2022 issue

Volume 67, Issue 10

Peatlands cover only about 3% of the planet's land surface but hold more carbon than all other vegetation in the world combined, sequestering some 0.37 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide each year. Humans disrupt this carbon storage by harvesting peat for fuel and garden soils and clearing peat for agriculture, forestry, building roads, and other reasons. When we degrade peatlands, we can turn them from a carbon sink to a carbon source. But if treated right (or left alone), they can help us solve our climate crisis by pulling carbon dioxide out of the air and storing it for centuries. See story on p. 16. Cover photo shows Pete Whittington, author of a new Soil Science Society of America Journal paper highlighted in this article, standing in a peatland bog in Canada.