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Documenting the Scottish megafire's impact on carbon emissions in peatlands, indicating severe long-term consequences.
Drier and warmer climates have allowed fires to increasingly burn carbon-dense peatland ecosystems. Here we document a 2025 Scottish megafire in the UK, which spread rapidly and burned severely across peatlands in Scotland with anomalously low soil moisture, emitting 38,600 MgC (25,200–119,000 MgC). Peat combustion contributed nearly 85% of total emissions, suggesting drier climates increase fire emissions from peat, which can require decades to centuries to recover.
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Schoenecker et al. (2026) studied this question.
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