<p>Suppose we say, &quot;We have a climate emergency going on, there's no way we're going to decarbonize our economies fast enough, to hell with biodiversity, we are going to drain the swamps&quot;. What happens then, after implementing such a policy on a global scale? Why is draining wetlands not a good idea, climate-wise? They are responsible for 1/5 of the world's methane emissions, the latest IPCC report says</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-13T11:23:55.300Z
I think that the water isolate carbon from the air and prohibit oxidation and some other processes.
Lehs
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-17T08:25:34.437Z
Swamps are carbon sinks, since plants there rot slowly or not at all, due to the wet conditions. Remove the water, replace it with oxygen, and you get normal decomposition of plants, cue CO2 emissions.
Erik
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-18T12:10:46.470Z
Look up CO2 emissions from drained peatlands. They are much higher (per area) than methane emissions from wetlands.
Roland
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-18T15:35:34.093Z
@roland do you mean in co2 equivalent?
Sergey Zolotarev
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-18T17:43:16.170Z
@SergeyZolotarev Yes.
Roland
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-29T18:29:30.147Z
How dare you. I live in a swamp. :)
Tardy
<climate-change>
Why is draining wetlands not a good idea, climate-wise?
Sergey Zolotarev
# Why is draining wetlands not a good idea, climate-wise?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-11-13)

Suppose we say, "We have a climate emergency going on, there's no way we're going to decarbonize our economies fast enough, to hell with biodiversity, we are going to drain the swamps". What happens then, after implementing such a policy on a global scale? Why is draining wetlands not a good idea, climate-wise? They are responsible for 1/5 of the world's methane emissions, the latest IPCC report says

**Tags:** climate-change

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I think that the water isolate carbon from the air and prohibit oxidation and some other processes.  
> **username_2**: Swamps are carbon sinks, since plants there rot slowly or not at all, due to the wet conditions. Remove the water, replace it with oxygen, and you get normal decomposition of plants, cue CO2 emissions.  
> **username_3**: Look up CO2 emissions from drained peatlands. They are much higher (per area) than methane emissions from wetlands.  
> **username_0**: @username_3 do you mean in co2 equivalent?  
> **username_3**: @username_0 Yes.  
> **username_4**: How dare you. I live in a swamp. :)  

---

## 0 answers

