Michelle McKeown: Peatlands  and why scientists around the world agreed on 50 urgent questions

Peatlands may not be glamorous landscapes. They are muddy, waterlogged and often difficult to access. But they are among the most important ecosystems on Earth for tackling climate change

Michelle McKeown, Leanne ODonoghue, and Xyza Vasily Dela Pena explore the peatlands at Clara Bog, Co Offaly.

Peatlands are some of the most carbon dense ecosystems on our planet. Yet they rarely capture public imagination in the same way as rainforests or coral reefs. Beneath their mosses, reeds and muddy surfaces lies one of our greatest climate allies. Although peatlands cover only around 3% of the Earth’s land surface, they store nearly one-third of the world’s soil carbon. That means these soggy landscapes lock away more carbon than all the world’s forests combined. When healthy, peatlands quietly absorb and store carbon for thousands of years. But when drained, burned or degraded, they become powerful sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

The challenge is that we still do not know enough about them. In fact, scientists are still discovering peatlands in remote regions of the world, particularly in tropical areas such as the Congo Basin and parts of the Amazon. We are still debating how much carbon peatlands truly store globally, how vulnerable they are to climate change, and how best to restore them once damaged. That uncertainty matters. It matters for climate targets, biodiversity protection, water security and land management. And it is exactly why an international group of researchers, policymakers and peatland experts recently came together to identify the most urgent research questions facing peatland science over the next decade.