African peat swamps discovery makes international headlines

Research by Professor Simon Lewis (Geography, University of Leeds) and Dr Greta Dargie (University College London) mapping the largest peatland in the tropics, an area larger than New York State in the Congo Basin in Central Africa, has received widespread international coverage. (See press release here.)

The new study, published in Nature on 11 January 2017 (DOI 10.1038/nature21048), found that the Cuvette Centrale peatlands in the central Congo Basin, which were unknown to exist five years ago, cover 145,500 square kilometres and lock in 30 billion tonnes of carbon, making the region one of the most carbon-rich ecosystems on Earth.

The story is featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, South China Morning Post, International Business Times, The Guardian as well as the Mail Online, Mashable and The Conversation.