"Boreal peat fires in a changing climate" - ERI Seminar - Dec 2025

"Abstract: Circumboreal peat fires can emit large amounts of carbon and harmful smoke pollution. Of particular concern are degraded peatland fires that burn deep into peat layers and emit up to several thousand years of legacy soil carbon. This not only has important implications for global climate, but the toxic smoke produced from deep peat burning can have severe human health effects. There is concern that climate change enhanced drought will magnify the impacts of boreal peat fires. This seminar discusses the ecohydrology of boreal peat fires and explores recent modelling advances to estimate the impact of climate change on peat fire carbon emissions. Novel peatland and wildfire management strategies to mitigate this emerging environmental issue will also be discussed. Biography: Mike Waddington is a Canada Research Chair in Ecohydrology and a Professor in the McMaster University School of Earth, Environment and Society. Mike has over 35 years of peatland research experience and over 20 years of expertise working on peatland wildfires and peatland restoration projects. He has published 200 scientific papers with a focus on peatland hydrology and peatland carbon cycling. He lives in Nobel, Ontario, Canada where he started the Nobel Peat Prize in 2010."