Rage Against the Miocene
@organiccarbon.bsky.social
Rich Pancost, Earth Scientist at the University of Bristol. Interested in past climates and earth system processes, from peatlands to the deep sea. First gen/ working class. Privileged white cis male. Anti-racist, pro LGBTQ+, decolonial. He/Him
Sphagnum is an outstanding ecosystem engineer, in part because of its potential to retain water. It is resilient to drought and can protect homes and farms from fires. But it can only do so much - it cannot overcome both drainage and drought. Eventually it becomes more kindling for the flames.
August 15, 2026 at 9:25 PM
Sphagnum is an outstanding ecosystem engineer, in part because of its potential to retain water. It is resilient to drought and can protect homes and farms from fires. But it can only do so much - it cannot overcome both drainage and drought. Eventually it becomes more kindling for the flames.
During drought, everything dries and cracks, and exposed black peat bakes in the sun. There is no buffer from the water-holding moss, no way for the degraded peat to retain water from draining away.
July 26, 2026 at 7:09 PM
During drought, everything dries and cracks, and exposed black peat bakes in the sun. There is no buffer from the water-holding moss, no way for the degraded peat to retain water from draining away.
Although Cleddon Bog still has some marvellous features, including classical bog vegetation and insect life, it is an isolated fragment of the original bog and therefore excessively drained and polluted with excessive nutrients. This allows birch, bracken and gorse to encroach from all sides.
July 26, 2026 at 6:52 PM
Although Cleddon Bog still has some marvellous features, including classical bog vegetation and insect life, it is an isolated fragment of the original bog and therefore excessively drained and polluted with excessive nutrients. This allows birch, bracken and gorse to encroach from all sides.