3. For
the future:
The store of information that peat bogs
hold doesn’t only tell us about the past –
it could also help us cope better with future global
warming. The peat archive can show us how ecosystems
- plants and some animals - reacted to past climate
changes and this could help us to understand or
predict what might happen in the future.
On a global scale, peat is a huge
store or reservoir of carbon. Peat extraction,
agriculture and forestry threaten this long-term
carbon store because they cause peat to dry out and
decompose. When peat breaks down, it releases some of
the stored carbon as carbon dioxide (CO2),
which is a major contributor to the Greenhouse Effect
and future climatic warming, as well as methane and
nitrous oxide, which also have detrimental effects on
the atmosphere.
Some people argue that growing trees
on peat will balance this effect, because the growing
trees will absorb carbon dioxide. But we don’t
really know if it does balance the CO2
released by the decaying peat or how future climate
change will affect the growth of trees or the
stability of bogs.
There are too many unknown factors to
take risks and many organisations are trying to save
peatlands, make governments change their policies and
help us to make simple changes that will help not
only Britain or Europe, but the Earth and all its
life to survive:
The web links listed below and those
referred to above are some of the organisations that
provide information about habitats, wildlife and
plants, the threats they face and ways to help
conserve them:
National organisations:
Scottish Natural Heritage: www.snh.co.uk
Scottish Wildlife Trust: www.swt.org.uk/
A global effort:
Friends of the Earth: www.foe.org/
Worldwide Fund for Nature: www.wwf.org
Worldwide Fund for Nature (UK): www.wwf-uk.org/home.shtml
Greenpeace: www.greenpeace.org/
Volunteering:
British Trust for Conservation Volunteers: www.btcv.org/
Learning to make a
difference:
Centre for Alternative Technology: www.cat.org.uk/
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