South-East Asia releases less CO2 than thought, says study

Swinburne Sarawak senior lecturer Dr Moritz Mueller. - ZULAZHAR SHEBLEE / THE STAR

KUCHING: South-East Asia is not a hotspot for carbon dioxide release as its peatland rivers emit much less of the gas than previously assumed, a study has found.

Although the region has a lot of carbon-rich peat soil, researchers found that the amount of carbon dioxide released by its rivers was six times less than that from a similar ecosystem in the Amazon.