W. Rising Temps, Irish Peat Bogs May Have Only 20-30 Years Left - Sunday Business Post

[hatrack]

The country’s peat bogs are in danger of disappearing within two or three decades, a top climate change expert has warned.

Dr John Sweeney, a lecturer at NUI Maynooth and one of the Irish delegates to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), said drier summers and changes in rainfall could wipe out bogs sooner than expected. Peat-fired power stations such as those at Edenderry, Co Offaly and Lough Ree in Co Longford supply thousands of homes with electricity.

‘‘The question is, are we going to lose our bogs? Drier summers and less rainfall will mean peatlands won’t be wetlocked.

They will be dry, crack up and shrink extensively. Over a few decades the amount of peat which could be harvested would fall catastrophically and eventually disappear,” said Sweeney.

EDIT

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=IRELAND-qqqm=news-qqqid=22568-qqqx=1.asp

[youngdem]

1. Seems appropriate since burning peat is just about the worst form of fuel imaginable

Dirty, heavy CO2 emitter.

They need to stop using the bogs as a fuel source.

[Solo_in_MD]

2. But it give the pubs and other buildings that unique aroma....

[youngdem]

3. True dat.

guess they could burn peat cubes in the pubs while they are drinking their boiling beer.

[phantom power]

4. I wonder what the impact on Irish and Scotch whisk(e)y will be?

The distilleries use peat to varying degrees, by tradition.