One of the following regions has the world's largest tropical peatland, which holds about three years worth of global carbon emissions from fossil fuels; and the possible destruction of which can exert detrimental effect on the global climate. Which one of the following denotes that region ?
- (a) Amazon Basin
- (b) Congo Basin ✓ UPSC's answer
- (c) Kikori Basin
- (d) Rio de la Plata Basin
Why the answer is (b)
• The Cuvette Centrale peatlands of the Congo Basin, straddling the Republic of Congo and the DR Congo, were mapped in 2017 as the world's largest tropical peatland complex, covering about 145,000 sq km.
• They store an estimated 30 billion tonnes of carbon — roughly three years of global fossil-fuel emissions — accumulated over 10,000 years in waterlogged, oxygen-poor conditions.
• Drainage for oil exploration, logging or agriculture would release this carbon and worsen global warming, which is why the region is a conservation priority.
• The Amazon, though the largest rainforest, has smaller peat areas; the Kikori Basin (Papua New Guinea) and Rio de la Plata Basin are not comparable peat stores.
• Hence option (b).
Why the other options are wrong
- (a) Amazon Basin
- The Amazon's peatlands are smaller than the Congo's Cuvette Centrale.
- (c) Kikori Basin
- The Kikori Basin has mangroves and wetlands but not the largest tropical peatland.
- (d) Rio de la Plata Basin
- The Rio de la Plata Basin is a river system, not a major peatland.
Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2024, held on 16 June 2024. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.