All articles tagged with #peatlands
Wildfires in Borneo and Sumatra have intensified since August, threatening critical habitats for orangutans and gibbons. While rescue teams in Indonesia treat injured primates, conservationists warn that draining peatlands have created underground 'zombie fires' that are difficult to extinguish. The crisis has prompted urgent appeals for funding to support firefighting efforts and protect remaining forest corridors.
A super El Niño is driving unusually dry conditions in Indonesia, triggering widespread peatland wildfires across Sumatra and Borneo that have burned hundreds of thousands of hectares, created dense smoke affecting neighboring countries, and led to cloud-seeding and water-bombing efforts; experts warn the season could rival the devastating 2015 fires as emissions and health impacts rise with months of fire risk still ahead.
Volunteer firefighters from Indigenous Dayak and Banjar communities have spent weeks tackling peatland blazes across Kalimantan, fighting underground fires that have burned about 200,000 hectares since July. The fires, fueled by drought from a strong El Niño and decades of peat drainage for plantations, release massive amounts of carbon—coined as “carbon bombs”—into the atmosphere and choking haze across Southeast Asia. The health impacts are severe, with tens of thousands of respiratory illnesses reported and children especially affected. Some volunteers have died, and many work at the front lines to saturate peat with water and create containment, highlighting the complex legacy of land use, deforestation, and scapegoating in addressing the crisis.
Massive fires in Indonesian Borneo’s Kalimantan, intensified by a strong El Niño, are creating a regional haze that sickens thousands weekly, disrupts schools and work, and spurs government crackdowns on land-clearing burnings while experts warn that peatland drainage and deforestation drive the fires and call for restoration to prevent deeper soil fires.
Indonesia arrested 72 people on suspicion of starting forest fires that have burned across parts of Borneo and Sumatra, with thousands of hot spots detected and peatland blazes driving hazardous haze. Authorities have deployed aerial firefighting and cloud-seeding, while rainfall is urged to help extinguish embers and clear the smoke.
A March 26, 2026 NASA ISS image of the James Bay Lowlands shows land rebounding after the Laurentide Ice Sheet, with beach ridges forming along the shore, vast peat bogs, and other glacial features as the surface rises about 10 mm per year near Hudson Bay and sea ice breaks up in late spring.
A Nature Geoscience study finds two Congo Basin lakes, Mai Ndombe and Lac Tumba, releasing carbon from ancient peat, challenging the idea that the region is a strict carbon sink. About 39–40% of the lakes’ carbon comes from peat, with Mai Ndombe potentially emitting more than 150 gigatons of ancient carbon annually. Microbial activity may convert peat carbon to methane that then becomes CO2, and warming or land-use changes could accelerate release. The basin’s peatlands cover only about 0.3% of Earth's land surface but hold roughly 30 billion tonnes of carbon—one-third of tropical peatland carbon—raising concerns about a climate feedback loop unless the carbon budget can be better constrained; researchers plan further work to understand mechanisms and the 12,000-year history of these emissions.
Gold mining in Peru's Amazon is rapidly destroying peatlands, which are crucial carbon sinks, leading to significant releases of stored carbon and threatening biodiversity, with potential emissions reaching millions of tons if current trends continue.
In Germany, the government is working to convert farmland back into wetlands to reduce carbon emissions from drained peatlands, which release significant amounts of carbon dioxide when dry. This initiative involves reintroducing water to these lands, which naturally store more carbon than forests. However, challenges arise as most peatlands are privately owned by farmers who rely on them for income. Solutions include compensating farmers for land use changes or finding ways to farm on wetland conditions. This approach is seen as crucial for Germany to meet its climate goals.
A study suggests that climate change is affecting the microbial food web in peatlands, potentially impacting their ability to store carbon. The research found that rising temperatures and elevated CO2 levels led to changes in the abundance and behavior of protists, tiny organisms that play a role in the movement of carbon in peatlands. These changes could have significant implications for the future of peatlands as carbon sinks and need to be considered in models predicting future warming.