• Researchers at ETH Zurich have now discovered for the first time that large blackwater lakes in the extensive peatlands of the central Congo Basin are releasing ancient carbon. • To date, climate researchers had assumed that carbon was stored safely for millenia in the peat. • How the carbon is mobilized from the peat to the lake, where it is finally released to the atmosphere, is still unknown. • Climate changes and altered land use, especially the conversion of forest to cropland, could exacerbate this trend-with consequences for the global climate.
Article Summaries:
- ETH Zurich scientists have discovered that large blackwater lakes in the central Congo Basin’s peatlands are releasing ancient carbon, challenging the long‑held belief that peat stores carbon safely for millennia. The study, the first to document this phenomenon, shows that carbon accumulated in the peat is being mobilized into the lakes and eventually emitted into the atmosphere, though the exact mechanism remains unclear. Researchers warn that rising temperatures and land‑use changes-such as converting forest to cropland-could accelerate this release, potentially increasing the region’s contribution to global greenhouse‑gas emissions.
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