North Carolina's Bogs Have a Dirty Secret, and That's a Good Thing
In its natural state, the soggy, spongy soil known as peat stores exceptional amounts of planet-warming carbon. Peatlands cover only about 3 percent of land on Earth, but they sock away twice as much carbon as all the world's forests put together. They also offer protection from wildfires, floods and drought, and support rare species.
But decades ago, in peatlands across North Carolina, people dug ditches to drain the waterlogged earth, often to fell old-growth trees or plant new ones for timber.
As peat dries, its virtues turn upside down. The soil itself becomes highly flammable. Even without burning, drained peat starts to emit the carbon it once stored, converting a climate solution into a climate problem.
The land no longer soaks up floodwaters. And in times of drought, there's little water for the ecosystem to fall back on.
Now, nonprofit, state, federal and private sector scientists and engineers have teamed up on what amounts to a series of giant plumbing projects. They are coaxing water to stay on the land to restore moisture to the peat.
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