{"id":1279,"date":"2025-10-17T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/?p=1279"},"modified":"2025-10-17T19:12:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T19:12:17","slug":"the-humble-plant-that-could-save-the-world-or-destroy-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/17\/the-humble-plant-that-could-save-the-world-or-destroy-it\/","title":{"rendered":"The humble plant that could save the world \u2014 or destroy it"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"An

\n\tThe Hudson Bay peatlands are a haven for biodiversity and a powerful carbon sink. | \ufeffThe Water Brothers & Wildlands League\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The largest herds of caribou in the world make their homes here. Polar bears give birth to cubs in dens dug into this soil, some of them more than 200 years old<\/a>. And birds like the Arctic tern fly north every summer, some from as far south as Antarctica, to breed and lay their eggs. <\/p>\n

The Hudson Bay peatlands in northern Canada, a 90-million-acre area stretching from northern Manitoba to Quebec, are a haven for biodiversity, home to more than 1,000 species of plants<\/a> and 175 species of birds<\/a>. But the secret of this unique ecosystem lies below the surface, in a buildup of water-saturated mosses called peat. <\/p>\n

Though it looks like little more than fibrous dirt, peat has near-magical properties. <\/p>\n

Acidic and anaerobic, it can preserve artifacts, food, and even human remains<\/a> for centuries or more. And because the process of decomposition slows down in such environments, they trap carbon dioxide and keep it out of the atmosphere, slowing the process of climate change. <\/p>\n

The Hudson Bay peatlands in particular store five times as much carbon per acre<\/a> as the Amazon rainforest, Janet Sumner, executive director of the Wildlands League, a Canadian conservation group, told me. Indigenous nations around Hudson Bay call the area \u201cthe breathing lands.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s the world’s temperature regulator,\u201d said Val\u00e9rie Courtois, executive director of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, which works on Indigenous-led conservation efforts in Canada. \u201cIt’s like we have a big fridge on top of the planet that is helping keep everything the way that it should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

But now, the fridge is hanging open. <\/p>\n

Though they cover only 3 percent of the earth\u2019s surface, peatlands store nearly one-third of the world\u2019s carbon<\/a>. And these ecosystems around the world are vulnerable to development and destruction. Today, only 17 percent of the world\u2019s peatlands fall within a protected area, according to a recent study by the Wildlife Conservation Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s peatlands are increasingly at the center of conflicts over resource extraction, and the stakes couldn\u2019t be higher.  <\/p>\n

In northern Canada, one of the biggest fears for peat conservationists is mining for rare-earth minerals<\/a>. Part of the Hudson Bay peatland sits atop the Ring of Fire<\/a>, a mineral deposit containing nickel, chromium, and other metals used in clean energy technologies like electric vehicle batteries. Some experts<\/a> see the minerals there as key to Canada\u2019s clean-energy transition and a crucial part of the fight against climate change. And it\u2019s true; minerals like the ones found around Hudson Bay are necessary for solar panels, batteries, and other technologies we need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But in the process of mining them, we may just destroy a crucial climate regulator. <\/p>\n

The government of Ontario, where the Ring of Fire is located, sees mining in the area as necessary for Canadian energy independence, especially amid President Donald Trump\u2019s trade wars. \u201cThis is how we make ourselves less reliant on the United States,\u201d Ontario Premier Doug Ford said this summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And already, the area\u2019s peatlands are at risk from mining expeditions, which experts say have disturbed the ecosystem even though no mineshafts have yet been sunk. First Nations and conservation groups are working to protect the lands around Hudson Bay<\/a>, but it\u2019s a race against the clock as mining exploration ramps up with support from the Canadian government.<\/p>\n

The carbon stored in the Hudson Bay peatlands took thousands of years to build up, said Lawrence Martin, director of lands and resources for the Mushgewok Council, a group representing several First Nations in the area. If it\u2019s released now, it could take thousands of years to replace. And if humans want to avoid the worst effects of climate change, we don\u2019t have that kind of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the lungs of the earth,\u201d Martin told me. \u201cIf you start tampering with that, you have to be really, really careful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The power of peat<\/h2>\n

Peat is a kind of soil that forms whenever organic matter builds up faster than it can decompose, said Dan Zarin, executive director for forests and climate change at the Wildlife Conservation Society. The bogs of northern Europe, famous resting places for uncannily preserved bog bodies<\/a>, are made of peat. But peat can also be found in the United States, in the Adirondacks of upstate New York<\/a> and the huge Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The soil also forms in the tropics, often in damp, forested areas where layers of different plant species stack on top of one another. In Panama, for example, peat can form giant domes, several meters deep and thousands of years old<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In colder climates like northern Canada, peatlands are usually created by colonies of sphagnum moss \u2014 a simple, easily overlooked plant that\u2019s also a climate hero.<\/p>\n

The structure of sphagnum includes large, empty cells that make the plant into a kind of sponge, absorbing up to 20 times its weight in water<\/a>. Moss was so well-known for its absorbent properties that First Nations peoples once used it for menstrual products and diapers, Courtois said. That absorbency helps create the wet, low-oxygen conditions that slow down decomposition and aid in carbon capture.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

There\u2019s more carbon stored in peatlands than in all the trees in the world \u2014 or about two-third of the world\u2019s petroleum reserves \u2014 Zarin said. The peatlands in the Congo Basin<\/a> store the equivalent of several years\u2019 worth of carbon emissions for the entire world. That\u2019s why peat is so critical to the world\u2019s climate future, Zarin said, and yet, \u201cit’s not really getting anything near the attention it deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around the world, ecosystems like tropical forests and mangroves are much more likely to be protected than peatlands, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society<\/a>. And nearly a quarter of peatlands are under heavy pressure from human development.<\/p>\n

In Indonesia, for example, forested peatlands are being cleared<\/a>, drained, and planted with palms to feed the rapidly growing global demand for palm oil<\/a>, a common ingredient in products from toothpaste to peanut butter. In Patagonia, they\u2019re threatened by urban development, Jorge Hoyos-Santill\u00e1n, a research\u00a0associate at the Smithsonian Tropical\u00a0Research\u00a0Institute in Panama, told me. Around the world, peat is harvested<\/a> and sold for use in potting soil \u2014 an 8-quart bag retails for less than $10 at US hardware stores, where Americans can purchase it for their berry patches and flower beds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And now, increasingly, peatlands are at risk, as governments and private industry seek new sources of the minerals needed for the batteries and related technologies that will likely power the world in the future.<\/p>\n

Why damaging peatlands is so dangerous<\/h2>\n

Around Hudson Bay, conservation groups are watching with concern as mining companies begin to survey fragile wetland ecosystems. \u201cPeople focus on the mining, but there’s a lot of damage that occurs before mining,\u201d Sumner of the Wildlands League told me.<\/p>\n

\n

How we reported this story<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Vox senior correspondent Anna North visited a bog in England and began learning about peatlands four years ago as part of research for her new novel, Bog Queen<\/em><\/a>. For this story, she spoke with nearly a dozen experts, including Indigenous conservationists, scientists, and First Nations community leaders, to better understand the Hudson Bay lowlands and peat around the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Mining exploration requires test drilling and the use of heavy machinery on a sensitive landscape, which can change its hydrology, causing areas of peatland to dry out, Sumner said.<\/p>\n

When peat dries out, its carbon-storing superpower becomes a liability. <\/p>\n

As water leaves the environment, decomposition starts again, and the soil begins to release all the carbon it\u2019s stored up over thousands of years. You can think of it like the burning of fossil fuels, Julie Loisel, a professor of geography at the University of Nevada, Reno, told me. \u201cIt took a long time to put that carbon down into the soil, and then you really quickly release it back to the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drying peat also turns it into a frighteningly powerful fuel for fires \u2014 in fact, communities in Ireland<\/a> and elsewhere have long burned peat as an alternative to coal. Today, peatland fires can be especially insidious, because even when they appear to be extinguished, they can continue to burn underground for months and re-spark \u2014 a phenomenon known as a \u201czombie fire.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n

Peatland fires can release 100 times the carbon<\/a> of a wildfire and produce large amounts of noxious smoke. In Indonesia in the 2010s, peat fires released as much carbon in a single day as the entire emissions of the United States, Zarin of the Wildlife Conservation Society told me. Fires are already burning<\/a> in the peatlands of northern Canada, spurred on by climate change, and experts fear they\u2019ll only become more devastating if the landscape isn\u2019t protected.<\/p>\n

And now, research indicates we may have entered a new age of fire<\/a> \u2014 where massive blazes around the world will be more frequent and destructive. It\u2019s even more urgent to prevent peatlands from drying out and becoming fuel for these conflagrations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to keep the peatlands doing what they do, which is breathing for the planet,\u201d Sumner said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Protecting the world\u2019s climate regulator<\/h2>\n

The carbon calculus involved in trading peatlands for EV batteries is a complicated one. <\/p>\n

But conservation groups say mining in Canada\u2019s Ring of Fire is less important for the clean energy transition than proponents have claimed. One issue is the remoteness of the area: the mining sites are currently accessible only by ice-road or float-plane, and a plan to build a major road<\/a> to the area could take a decade, Sumner, of the Wildlands League, said.<\/p>\n

Other sites in Ontario have more critical minerals, are more accessible, and are located in areas that are already environmentally degraded, Sumner said. Mining in the Ring of Fire \u201cfeels more like a dream than it does a reality, and it’s not going to meet the need for energy transition in any short timeline, which is what we need,\u201d Sumner said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, First Nations have been at work for years on their own plans for the Hudson Bay lowlands. The Mushkegowuk Council is leading an effort<\/a> to establish an Indigenous-led conservation project in northern Ontario that could protect peatlands and other ecosystems, as well. The Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation has also proposed a protected area<\/a> including peatlands around the Fawn River in northern Ontario. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes an Indigenous approach to planning is that you look at what you need to keep in those ecosystems as opposed to looking at what you can take,\u201d Courtois of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative said. Under such an approach, Indigenous leaders can also identify less vulnerable areas where activities like mining could occur. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe more that provinces embrace the practice of land use planning \u2014 or land relationship planning as we like to call it \u2014 the better the conditions are for the exploration of potential development,\u201d Courtois said.<\/p>\n

Representatives of the Mushkegowuk Council have also said<\/a> mining could potentially coexist with conservation. \u201cYou do need to reach into the ground to pull out the resources necessary to keep us fed,\u201d the Council\u2019s Martin told me. \u201cBut we need to do this with great conscience.\u201d <\/p>\n

The fate of the conservation project remains unclear, however, and Martin says the Council is still working to get the Ontario government on board. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, peatlands around the world remain at risk, as lack of knowledge and political will collide with economic development. In some parts of the world, they\u2019ve \u201cbeen treated as wasteland areas,\u201d Zarin said. Indeed, the swampy bogs of the global north are a common setting for horror stories<\/a>, seen as a place humans should avoid and fear.<\/p>\n

The first step toward changing that is a better understanding of peatlands, experts say. These ecosystems are often in remote locations that are difficult for humans to navigate, and since peat lies beneath the surface, it\u2019s often invisible even to researchers. The peatlands in the Congo Basin, for example, were only documented by scientists in the 2010s, and their full size \u2014 as big as England and Wales combined \u2014 was revealed only in 2023<\/a>. Those discoveries have helped drive funding and conservation efforts to the area, said Hoyos-Santill\u00e1n, from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.<\/p>\n

Beyond understanding, people around the world need an appreciation of peatlands and their value, conservationists say. \u201cMy hope is that the province of Ontario and other places that have these sorts of landscapes look at them not just as some sort of breadbasket for the development of the province, but also see it as a feature of who they are,\u201d Courtois said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can’t destroy everything for capitalism,\u201d Martin said. \u201cYou have to be able to save enough for your children, for your future generations, for them to enjoy life.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Hudson Bay peatlands are a haven for biodiversity and a powerful carbon sink. | \ufeffThe Water Brothers & Wildlands League The largest herds of caribou in the world make their homes here. Polar bears give birth to cubs in dens dug into this soil, some of them more than 200 years old. And birds…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1279"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1286,"href":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279\/revisions\/1286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/audiomateria.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}