WHEN THE 2016 Horse River Fire began making its run toward Fort Mc-Murray, wildfire fighters were shocked by its severity and speed. The region, once dominated by wet peatlands, had been drained to make way for a tree-planting experiment. As the water was diverted, thick layers of peat — dominated by sphagnum moss, which can hold up to twenty-six times its dry weight in moisture — disappeared or were badly degraded. Thirsty, flammable stands of black spruce took over. The fire tore through the tinderbox of trees. “The Beast,” as the wildfire was famously called, forced the evacuation of 88,000 people, at the last minute, through thick smoke and flying embers. While a natural peatland may not have halted the fire, it would have slowed or tempered the blaze.
It was a classic example of unintended consequences — in this case, born from underestimating nature’s genius. Canada holds between a quarter and a third of the world’s peatlands, including acidic bogs and more alkaline fens as well as swamps and marshes. They can be found across the country, from British Columbia to the Northwest Territories to Nova Scotia, growing many meters deep into the ground. Due to their density of decomposed or decomposing plant material, one square meter of peatland in northern Canada holds approximately five times the amount of carbon as one square meter of tropical rainforest in the Amazon. But the country’s peatlands have been so degraded by the construction of mines and hydroelectric dams, by oil-and-gas developments, and by the urban expansion that we are losing an ecosystem crucial to the prevention of natural disasters such as forest fires — as well as destroying a key mitigator of climate change.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 2021-Ausgabe von The Walrus.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 2021-Ausgabe von The Walrus.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Invisible Lives
Without immigration status, Canada's undocumented youth stay in the shadows
My Guilty Pleasure
"The late nights are mine alone, and I'll spend them however I damn well please"
Vaclav Smil Is Fed Up
The acclaimed environmental scientist is criticizing climate activists, shunning media, and stepping back just when we need him most
It's Time for a Birth Control Revolution
What the pill teaches us about the failure - and future - of women's health care
Would You Watch a Play about Hydro Electricity?
How documentary theatre struck a chord in Quebec
Still Spinning
One record chain has bet big on a new appetite for physical media
Just So You Know, I Love My Mother
In many ways, multi-generational living makes sense. But that doesn't make it easy
Art of the Steal
Why are plundered African artifacts still in Western museums?
Canada in the Middle
What role can we play in easing the war in Gaza?
Canadian Multiculturalism: A Work in Progress
As we mark fifty years since the adoption of Canada’s federal multiculturalism policy, human rights advocate AMIRA ELGHAWABY celebrates its merits and reflects on the work that is yet to be done when it comes to inclusion, acceptance, and fighting systemic racism in our country.