Companies that harvest peat now more commonly respond to their critics by replanting harvested bogs. The problem here is that 30-40 years may elapse before the bog quits emitting carbon.

But unbeknownst to them, a peat bog's natural chemistry prevents the decay of some human and animal tissues. Peat is a muddy wetlands layer made of decaying plants and mosses.

Dirty hands. Trace gases. Ericaceae. The life of a peatland mesocosm experiment. Flooding is the way of life in peat bogs. The standing water helps create an environment where mosses, sedges, and ...

Peat bogs, such as Volo Bog Natural Area in northern Illinois, sequester a massive amount of the Earth's carbon dioxide. Volo Bog formed as a glacial lake more than 6,000 years ago.

The layers are so thick that oxygen doesn't really penetrate them, and the plant and moss remains build up over time to form peat. It's a slow process, taking 7,000 to 10,000 years to form about ...

PLOS. "Peat-bog fungi produce substances that kill tuberculosis-causing bacteria." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 4 December 2024. <www.sciencedaily.com / releases / 2024 / 12 / 241203153925.htm>.