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Scientists warn key climate battle is happening beneath our feet
https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2026/research/climate-battle-beneath-our-feet/Posted on Thursday 28 May 2026
Scientists have warned that understanding the complex make-up of the world’s peatlands is an underestimated climate battle.
The new study identifies 50 critical questions including locating and mapping out peat deposits
Peatlands, which include bogs, fens, and swamp forests, only cover 3% of the Earth’s land, but store double the carbon of all the world’s forests combined.
The international team of scientists, including experts from the University of York and Royal Holloway University of London, have now developed a ‘global road map’ to help develop understanding of these complex systems, and argue the points they identified should be central to policies aimed at tackling climate change.
The study, published in Communications Earth & Environment, involved 467 experts across 54 countries, and surveyed scientists to narrow down the critical questions that need to be asked in order to understand exactly how much pressure these ‘carbon vaults’ can take before they burst.
Alarming rates
Professor Robert Marchant, from the University of York’s Department of Environment and Geography, said: “We know that when peat is healthy, it acts like a sink, pulling carbon from the air, but when it is drained through farming or heatwaves, it exhales carbon at an alarming rate.
…
Milner, A.M., McKeown, M.M., Ruwaimana, M. et al. Priority research questions in global peatland science. Commun Earth Environ 7, 349 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03321-5Scientists have warned that understanding the complex make-up of the world’s peatlands is an underestimated climate battle.
The new study identifies 50 critical questions including locating and mapping out peat deposits
Peatlands, which include bogs, fens, and swamp forests, only cover 3% of the Earth’s land, but store double the carbon of all the world’s forests combined.
The international team of scientists, including experts from the University of York and Royal Holloway University of London, have now developed a ‘global road map’ to help develop understanding of these complex systems, and argue the points they identified should be central to policies aimed at tackling climate change.
The study, published in Communications Earth & Environment, involved 467 experts across 54 countries, and surveyed scientists to narrow down the critical questions that need to be asked in order to understand exactly how much pressure these ‘carbon vaults’ can take before they burst.
Alarming rates
Professor Robert Marchant, from the University of York’s Department of Environment and Geography, said: “We know that when peat is healthy, it acts like a sink, pulling carbon from the air, but when it is drained through farming or heatwaves, it exhales carbon at an alarming rate.
…