Wetlands could unleash "carbon bomb"

[phantom power]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The world's wetlands, threatened by development, dehydration and climate change, could release a planet-warming "carbon bomb" if they are destroyed, ecological scientists said on Sunday.

Wetlands contain 771 billion tons of greenhouse gases, one-fifth of all the carbon on Earth and about the same amount of carbon as is now in the atmosphere, the scientists said before an international conference linking wetlands and global warming.

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN1745905120080720

[DCKit]

1. Then it follows that if we restore the wetlands that have been drained...

or otherwise destroyed, we'd be sequestering carbon. The other billion environmental benefits, flooding and hurricane protection would be a bonus.

Can't wait to hear the lame excuses about why we can't or shouldn't do this thing.

On Edit:

There's nothing we can do about the carbon bomb (methane) that's going to go off (is going off) in the tundra, so we'd better have some kind of plan.

[XemaSab]

2. .

:popcorn:

[roguevalley]

3. isn't this the same effect if the permafrost melts?

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. You couldn't come up with a better sci fi plot.

Take THAT Realtors.

[phantom power]

5. It's been done, at least with a carbon bomb from methane hydrate release:

Mother of Storms, by John Barnes.

http://www.amazon.com/Mother-Storms-John-Barnes/dp/0812533453/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216739321&sr=8-2