Under the Icy North Lurks a ‘Carbon Bomb’

Tropical deforestation is a climate change crisis, but scientists fear for boreal wilderness, too

by Beth Daley

OTTAWA - North of Canada's capital, underneath an endless expanse of spruce, pine, and birch, ticks what some scientists are calling a carbon bomb: Peat.

A thick layer of the black spongy soil, the remnants of ancient forests, wraps the globe's northern tier. Deeper than 15 feet in places, the peat layer extends over more than 6 million square miles across Russia, Scandinavia, China, Canada, and the United States.