Emissions

Icelandic river systems are vast. All major rivers in Iceland begin deep inside the interior of the country and end up flowing out of huge estuaries by the coastline. Flying over them you can observe magnificent patterns with different color schemes and hues. Some of them are brownish in color and that's due to water that has been gathered from surrounding ditches to dry up the wetland. In 1920s government started to pay farmers to dig these ditches and drain wetlands. That allows water to flow away without being absorbed and stored by peat (compressed organic material). While this dry land is more valuable for farming, it also means that rotting peat releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide that makes about 70% of all carbon emissions in Iceland.