The recent peat fires in Southeast Asia were an environmental disaster. But many uncertainties remain about the extent and impact of the fires. One is exactly how much carbon was emitted. The media have reported that carbon emissions from this one event were higher than annual emissions from Germany or the US. But how certain are such estimates?

Lahiru’s letter to Global Change Biology cautions against jumping to conclusions about the impacts of the peat fires without proper quantitative analyses. He suggests we not be alarmist and instead take a step back to do the science.

Wijedasa, L. S., Peat soil bulk density important for estimation of peatland fire emissions,
Global Change Biology (in press)

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.13364/abstract?campaign=wolacceptedarticle