Congo Basin Lakes Are Venting Millennia-Old Peat Carbon, Study Finds

Overview

• Radiocarbon measurements show that up to 40% of the CO₂ emitted from Lakes Mai Ndombe and Tumba originates from peat deposits thousands of years old.
• Scientists do not yet know how ancient peat carbon moves into the lakes and are investigating whether this reflects a stable cycle or a sign of destabilization.
• The Congo Basin’s swamps and peatlands cover about 0.3% of Earth’s land surface yet hold roughly one‑third of all tropical peat carbon.
• A parallel study reports that higher lake levels enhance microbial breakdown of methane, while lower levels allow more methane to escape to the atmosphere.
• Researchers urge closer monitoring and better representation of tropical lakes and wetlands in climate models, with the work led by ETH Zurich’s TropSEDs project and published in Nature Geoscience.