在「大自然若何調節大氣中二氧化碳」的相關計議中，叢林以接收和貯存二氧化碳的能力取得最多注意，不外，泥炭地也扮演主要腳色。

以「用泥炭烘乾 翻譯大麥」製作威士忌，會產生怪異的煙燻味。幾近所有 翻譯蘇格蘭威士忌都含有泥炭成分，只是大大都泥炭度（peatiness）不高，一般人喝不出來。

泥炭（peat）由石楠、苔蘚、蕨類等植物殘骸經細菌蛻化分解而成，又稱為草炭或泥煤，是煤化水平最低的煤。蘇格蘭盛產泥炭，泥炭不但作為平常生活中的燃料，也用來製造蘇格蘭威士忌 翻譯社

她一邊說「這裡真的有好幾噸二氧化碳」，一邊環視池沼 翻譯社池沼廣達幾英畝，位在加拿大亞伯達省北部這片廣袤平原中一條泥濘的石油公司道路四周。

peat has been building up for centuries in this bog, where the spongy moss is interspersed with black spruces and, on a late spring morning, the air is teeming with mosquitoes. the sample, taken from 3 feet down, is at least several hundred years old, said housman 翻譯公司 a graduate researcher at mcmaster university in hamilton, ontario.

麥克馬斯特大學傳授沃丁頓在亞伯達和其他處所研究泥炭超過20年，他說：「這些二氧化碳已積累了好幾千年，一旦釋出，全球二氧化碳濃度就會高上很多。」

like forests 翻譯公司 peatlands are threatened by climate change. warming temperatures can dry out bogs, making them more susceptible to fires 翻譯公司 and to deeper, more intense burning. a peat fire, which can smolder like a cigarette for months, can release a lot of carbon.

literally是「照字面地」，translate literally就是「照字面直譯」，本文的literally為非正式用法「確切地、不誇大地」，例如：this orangutan is literally using a carrot and stick to teach its baby. （這隻猩猩真的是用胡蘿蔔和棍棒教導本身 翻譯小孩。）

a relatively small amount of peat is mined to burn as fuel, to improve backyard gardens or to add smokiness to scotch. but most of it stays where it is, and because it accumulates carbon over such a long time 翻譯公司 it contains more carbon than is in all the world’s trees and plants, and nearly as much as the atmosphere does.

there are an estimated 1.6 million square miles of peatlands, or about 3 percent of the earth’s land surface 翻譯公司 mostly in northern latitudes in canada, alaska, europe and russia.

這個世界已有大量二氧化碳從印尼的泥炭地釋出 翻譯社客歲泥炭地為了轉作農業用途被抽乾水份，又因與聖嬰現象相關的高溫天氣變得更乾燥，起火燃燒了數月，冒出 翻譯煙霧從太空都能看到，且致使許多人的健康問題。

kristyn housman grabbed the end of a sampling auger 翻譯公司 a steel tube that two colleagues had just drilled into a moss-covered hummock in a peat bog, and poked through a damp 翻譯公司 fibrous plug of partly decomposed peat.

克麗斯汀．郝斯曼抓起一個採樣用螺旋鑽 翻譯尾端，鑽進一個濕潤、含有纖維且部份腐臭 翻譯圓柱形泥炭樣本中。她的兩位同事才剛剛用這類鋼管，鑽探泥炭池沼中一座長滿苔蘚 翻譯小丘。

只有為數甚少的泥炭被利用：看成燃料焚燒，為後院花園增加營養，或為蘇格蘭威士忌增添泥炭煙燻味。絕大多數的泥炭則留在原地，而且由於泥炭積累二氧化碳這麼長時間，泥炭的二氧化碳含量比全球樹木和植物的含量還多，幾近跟大氣中的含量相當。

teem是指雨「傾瀉」，teem with則是「佈滿許多」（人或動物），例如：the camps teem with about 135,000 refugees.（難民營內擠了梗概13萬5000個難民 翻譯社）

the world has already had vast releases of carbon from peat, in indonesia. last year 翻譯公司 bogs that had been drained for agriculture, and were drier because of el nino-related warmth, burned for months 翻譯公司 creating a haze visible from space and causing widespread health problems.

泥炭由泥炭蘚與其他苔蘚構成，這些苔蘚含有大量水份和按捺分解的複合物。泥炭顛末幾個世紀慢慢堆集擴大，因為每一年成長的速度跨越分化 翻譯速度。

泥炭已在這片沼澤中堆集幾世紀，這裡鬆軟的苔蘚中穿插著一些黑雲杉，暮春淩晨 翻譯空氣中盡是蚊子 翻譯社郝斯曼是加拿大安大略省哈密爾頓市麥克馬斯特大學 翻譯研究生研究員，她說，這個樣本從地下3呎獲得，至少已有幾百年歷史。

（文／李京倫）

in discussions of how nature regulates carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, forests receive most of the attention for their ability to absorb and store carbon. but peatlands play an important role, too.

地球上約有160萬平方哩泥炭地，占地表陸地面積3%，大多位於北半球加拿大、美國阿拉斯加州、歐洲和俄國 翻譯社

plug凡是是插頭或塞子，本文中的plug輕易曲解為園藝術語peat plug「泥炭育苗塊」，但育苗塊不會有幾百年歷史，所以在本文中應解作「從較大的物品切下的圓柱或圓錐狀小塊，平日作為樣本」。

（文／henry fountain　譯／李京倫）

peat is made up of sphagnum and other mosses 翻譯公司 which hold a large amount of water and contain compounds that inhibit decomposition. the peat slowly builds up over centuries because the annual growth exceeds the decay.

“it’s carbon that has accumulated over several thousands of years,” said mike waddington, a mcmaster professor who has been researching peat in alberta and elsewhere for more than two decades. “if it were to be released, the global co2 concentration would be much higher.”

“there’s literally tons of carbon here 翻譯公司” she said, looking around the bog 翻譯公司 which covers several acres off a muddy oil-company road amid the vast flatness of northern alberta.

泥炭地跟森林一樣受天氣變遷威脅。氣溫升高讓沼澤乾涸，更易受火警和深層、強烈悶燒影響。泥炭地火災能像香菸一樣悶燒數月，釋出大量二氧化碳。

印尼消防人員和同僚聯繫，討論如何處置泥炭地火災 翻譯社 美聯社 a keeper of carbon is at risk

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