Editing Peat (section)

===Peat drainage===
Large areas of organic wetland (peat) soils are currently drained for agriculture, forestry and peat extraction (i.e. through canals<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.borneonaturefoundation.org/en/saving-the-rainforest/canal-blocking/|title=Peatland drainage through canals|access-date=2020-11-23|archive-date=2020-11-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128231248/http://www.borneonaturefoundation.org/en/saving-the-rainforest/canal-blocking/|url-status=dead}}</ref>). This process is taking place all over the world. This not only destroys the habitat of many species but also heavily fuels climate change.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/peatlands-and-climate-change|title=Peatlands and climate change|date=2017-11-06|website=IUCN|language=en|access-date=2020-01-23}}</ref> As a result of peat drainage, the organic carbon—which built over thousands of years and is normally underwater—is suddenly exposed to the air. It decomposes and turns into [[carbon dioxide]] ({{CO2}}), which is released into the atmosphere.<ref>[https://qualitywatertreatment.com/pages/saving-peatlands-their-carbon-nature Content from Wetlands.org], Wetlands International | Peatlands and CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions</ref> The global {{CO2}} emissions from drained peatlands have increased from 1,058 Mton in 1990 to 1,298 Mton in 2008 (a 20% increase). This increase has particularly taken place in developing countries, of which [[Indonesia]], [[Malaysia]] and [[Papua New Guinea]] are the fastest-growing top emitters. This estimate excludes [[emissions from peat fires]] (conservative estimates amount to at least 4,000 Mton/{{CO2}}-eq./yr for south-east Asia). With 174 Mton/{{CO2}}-eq./yr, the EU is after Indonesia (500 Mton) and before Russia (161 Mton), the world's second-largest emitter of drainage-related peatland {{CO2}} (excl. extracted peat and fires). Total {{CO2}} emissions from the worldwide 500,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> of degraded peatland may exceed 2.0 Gtons (including emissions from peat fires), which is almost 6% of all global carbon emissions.<ref>[http://www.wetlands.org/peatco2 Wetlands.org]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, The Global Peat CO2 Picture, Wetlands International and Greifswald University, 2010</ref>{{Obsolete source|reason=This source is old and needs update |date=November 2023}}