An unusually hot summer set such fires across the country and the peatlands around Moscow generated a smog that blanketed the city with carbon monoxide and soot.
According to Natural England, English peatlands are estimated to contain about 584 million tonnes of carbon, based on the limited information available on peat depth and quality.
Tom Dargie, who runs Boreas Ecology argues that the 1972 study was based was a different type of peatland which is much wetter, and therefore inappropriate for calculating impacts on the Lewis peatlands.