• Teal Carbon is an emerging term in environmental science that refers to the carbon sequestered and stored in non-tidal freshwater wetlands.
• It is part of a color-based nomenclature used to classify organic carbon based on its ecosystem location and function in the global carbon cycle.

Key Features of Teal Carbon
Location: It is stored in inland, non-tidal freshwater ecosystems, which include:

• Marshes and Swamps
• Lakes and Ponds
• Peatlands (which are the most significant reservoir)
• River floodplains and natural freshwater marshes
• Storage Mechanism: Carbon is sequestered in:
• The vegetation (aquatic and semi-aquatic plants)
• Microbial biomass
• Dissolved and particulate organic matter (DOM/POM)
• Waterlogged soils and sediments, where the anaerobic conditions slow down decomposition, allowing carbon to be trapped for long periods.

Significance: Freshwater wetlands are considered highly efficient carbon sinks. They cover a relatively small portion of the Earth's land surface but store a disproportionately large amount of global soil organic carbon. Peatlands, for instance, can store vast amounts of carbon, sometimes for thousands of years.

Teal Carbon vs. Blue Carbon
The term "Teal Carbon" was introduced to distinguish it from the more widely known "Blue Carbon":

Feature	Teal Carbon	Blue Carbon
Ecosystem	Non-tidal Freshwater Wetlands	Tidal Coastal/Marine Ecosystems
Examples	Peatlands, Freshwater Marshes, Lakes, Swamps	Mangroves, Seagrass Meadows, Salt Marshes

Challenges
While freshwater wetlands have a high potential for carbon storage, they also face significant challenges:

• Methane Emissions: Wetlands can be a natural source of methane (CH4​), a powerful greenhouse gas. If the wetland is degraded or heavily polluted, methane emissions can increase, potentially offsetting the CO2​ sequestration benefit.
• Degradation: They are highly vulnerable to human activities like pollution, drainage, agriculture, and water extraction, which can convert them from carbon sinks into carbon sources.

The concept highlights the crucial, yet often overlooked, role of inland wetlands in global climate change mitigation and the urgent need for their conservation.

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