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Science In Action: What peat can tell us about our future

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Congo-basin.jpg

03/11/2022 GMT

What peat can tell us about our future

BBC World Service - Science In Action, What peat can tell us about our future

Peat can offer us early alarm bells to climate change tipping points.

We understand how peat can show us climate change tipping points. Look at how hurricanes are intensifying. And bust some COP jargon.

The Congo Basin is home to the world’s largest peatland. Simon Lewis, Professor of Global Change Science at UCL and the University of Leeds, tells Roland how this peatland acts as a huge carbon sink and how climate change could result in these carbon stores being released. He is joined by Dr Ifo Averti, Associate Professor in Forest Ecology at Universite Marien Ngouabi in the Congo who helps us understand what this landscape is like. 

We explore how peatlands all around the world are showing early alarm bells of change. From the boreal Arctic forests to the Amazon, prof Simon Lewis helps us understand how they could action huge change in the climate.  

Hurricane Ian, which recently caused devastating damage to Cuba and the United States, may signify a growing trend of increasingly powerful storms. Karthik Balaguru, climate and data scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, explains how climate change is causing hurricanes to rapidly intensify, making them faster and wetter.

On Sunday 6 November, COP27 will begin in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Dr Debbie Rosen, Science and Policy Manager at CONSTRAIN, breaks down some of the jargon we might hear throughout the conference. 

Presenter: Roland Pease
Assistant Producer: Sophie Ormiston 
Producer: Robbie Wojciechowski

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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