Bogs surrounding Hudson Bay, Canada. Computer models suggest that peatlands are especially sensitive to climate changes. As the globe heats up they thaw, releasing huge amounts of methane and related gases.Canada holds the second largest reserves of peat in the world, after Siberia. Since methane levels in the global atmosphere have increased erratically in recent years, sometimes by as much as one percent per year, tracing the origins and behavior of methane is particularly critical to understanding global warming.
Photo Lee Klinger, Copyright © University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). Copyright © 2008 TerraNature Trust. All rights reserved. |
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