Carbon emission became more serious as a new study titled "Large historical carbon emissions from cultivated northern peatlands" discovered that northern farms generate 40 billion tons of it.
"When the peatland dries out-i.e., people dig drainage ditches to lower the water table of a peatland to make it suitable for growing crops," said Chunjing Qiu, the lead author of the latest study.
"Peat soil is aerated and the aerobic microbial decay of organic matter, which needs oxygen, is enhanced, thus resulting in carbon release from peat to the atmosphere," he added.
Since Qiu is also one of France's Climate and Environment Sciences Laboratory researchers, he was able to discover that any new plant in the northern farms that grows and dies will quickly decay. Because of this, the dead plants will release huge amounts of carbon emissions.
Why Carbon Emission Is Rising
According to Wired's latest report, climate scientists have focused on how much carbon emissions people might be losing from deforestation. However, this is currently criticized since they haven't often investigated the effects of turning peatlands into fields.
This is one of the main reasons why carbon emissions in northern farms are currently rising. The new study, which the Science Advances journal published, stated that the cultivated northern peatlands were able to release more than 40 billion tons of carbon from 1750 until 2010.
Maria Strack, who studies peatlands at the University of Waterloo, explained that when people are converting peatlands to cultivated land, it usually affects carbon emissions.
Innovative Approaches To Prevent Carbon Emissions
Right now, various countries are making plans on how to combat the rising carbon emissions across the world's atmosphere. These include Singapore's ambitious plan to reduce harmful gas.
However, some experts claimed that some simple methods could help different companies and organizations reduce the carbon they emit. Dezeen provided some of the most effective innovative approaches that you can follow.
Here are some of them:
- Direct air capture
- Carbon-neutral concrete
- Olivine sand
- Renewable energy
- Net-zero furniture
- Climate-neutral cars
For more news updates about carbon emissions and other related stories, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.
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Written by: Griffin Davis
