Fen, Bog, and Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and its Role in the Climate Crisis by Annie Proulx

Annie Proulx, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and chronicler of place (Barkskins, Accordion Crimes, Close Range), has branched out to give us a stark look at an unsung hero of carbon storage: the peatland. Peatlands cover about three percent of the earth's surface yet store about 30 percent of the earth's carbon. In Fen, Bog, and Swamp, Proulx explores the history of peatland destruction worldwide, and implores us to think about these beautiful and mysterious places in a more practical light: as carbon sinks. Bill McKibben describes the book as “an unforgettable and unflinching tour of past and present, fixed on a subject that could not be more important.”

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