Brownprint for the future

Peatland degradation in the UK has become increasingly widespread since drainage began in the Roman era. The Middle Ages saw agricultural growth incentivise further drainage, particularly in the Fenlands. The Industrial Revolution then led to acid rain and associated sulphur deposition on peat, severely damaging sphagnum mosses (Page, 2020). Today, despite covering only 12% of the UK land area and 3% of the global land surface, peatlands account for 5% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, producing 1-2 billion tonnes of CO ₂  globally every year (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, n.d.). Due to the fact that peatlands consist of ~50% carbon, when they are degraded they are a highly potent GHG source (Evans, 2019).

Peatland degradation occurs for a number of reasons:

Often agricultural productivity is relentlessly pursued. Widespread drainage through the cutting of gullies and grips is commonplace in order to modify the land for conventional agribusiness and plantations (Yorkshire Peat Partnership, n.d.). An example of this is palm oil plantations in Indonesia, where over drainage occurs to optimise yields. Drainage damages peat firstly by exposing the organic matter to oxidation, releasing CO ₂  and CH ₄  through decomposition (Page, 2017). Subsequently, the unsaturated peat becomes destabilised and vulnerable to erosion. Overland flow exposes deeper catotelm to degradation while also leaching the peat, forming dissolved organic carbon (DOC). The DOC enters the water cycle before becoming oxidised, producing further CO ₂  (Burt, 2018).

Cutting peat for fuel has similar effects to gullying whilst afforestation also drains peatland by enabling transpiration (Styles, n.d.). Burning and deforesting of peatland, widely used in Indonesia, dries and combusts peat, leading to further GHG emissions (Goulsbra, 2022) (Page, 2017).

These processes cause a highly effective carbon sink to become a carbon source.

My Brownprint for the future is the widespread regeneration of peatlands across the globe.  This affordable solution promotes carbon negativity, hazard reduction and environmental well being, through the following plan:

These steps are universal for peatland regeneration across the world.  If the brownprint is followed, peatlands will begin to once again act as a carbon sink, their healthy state allowing for carbon sequestration on a massive, but natural scale. In an ideal world, all peatlands would be restored to their natural state, allowing the carbon cycle to run its own course. But reality dictates a different outcome is sometimes necessary.

Restoration of peatlands has numerous benefits. 

The earth is forecast to see a 3 ^o C global increase in temperature by 2100, which is far beyond the Paris agreement target of 1.5 ^o C (Castree, 2019). Peatlands provide a localised cooling effect (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, n.d.) protecting small areas from the most severe temperature extremes.

On a larger scale, peatlands are highly effective at sequestrating carbon, a process that needs significant amplification in our world if atmospheric carbon concentrations are going to be reduced from 420 ppm to 350 ppm (the level proposed by scientists). ~1000-2000 gigatonnes of CO2 needs to be removed from the atmosphere for levels to be considered 'safe' from the impacts of severe climate change (Magnason, 2020) (MN350, n.d.).

As shown below, the Brownprint has peatland specific benefits, as explained below.

Peatlands don't just have localised benefits.  Their role as a carbon sink means that regeneration anywhere benefits everywhere.  This is the overarching purpose of the Brownprint.

Reduced carbon concentrations in the atmosphere would have immeasurable benefits. Firstly, the rate of ocean acidification would decrease, protecting marine organisms such as corals and molluscs, whose building of calcium carbonate shells is being negatively impacted by the lowering pH (The Geographical Society, n.d.).

Secondly, extreme weather events would be less likely to occur. Vulnerable populations, such as those of Libya or Greece, would be less at risk from heatwaves and floods.

Lastly, and arguably most importantly, glacial wastage would decrease and the rate of sea level rise would slow. Beyond the obvious benefits to low-lying costal areas, who would no longer be at such risk of inundation, large areas of the Earth would benefit for another reason. The mass redistribution of water from our cryosphere to our hydrosphere could have encouraged a series of processes including increasing pore water pressure, crustal bending and glacial isostatic adjustment.  These mechanisms would have resulted in volcanic, seismic and landslide activity, affecting populations from the crowded Atlantic coastlines to the sparsely populated Himalayas ((McGuire, 2012).

The Brownprint is affordable and accessible for all. The basis that a world with more brown peat means a more secure, healthier and safer future. In conclusion, a browner world is a better world.