Please check out 80,000 hours at 80000hours.org/hoog. This is an organisation I feel very passionate about, and it was an absolute honor to have them sponsor me. One glaring error: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IrelandEuropePopulation1750.PNG (there's an axis missing for total population). European population is larger than Irish, obviously, but percentage rate of growth was different. Sources will be added to this link over time: twitter.com/romulushoog/status/1557389731486318593
Visited though ur link and signed up for the newsletter. I'm surprised I've never heard of them before. Interested in the resources they have to offer!
Without resolution to the problem for the people. But forcing a policy regardless (that is why we are angry) You redistribute populations then force us off a cliff.
I'm in ireland and my dad owns a bog that we no longer use for turf and it has been recovering slowly but surely, the ground used to be 3 meters higher but reduced due to it being cut away over the years it would be nice to see it in its former glory at some point.
@Taivas0 my nans house can only be heated by fireplace its a small cottage in westmeath, turf is what she gets but looks like the government doesn't want turf being bought because it will apparently hurt the poor lungs of dearbha in trinity college studying in liberal arts and vaping which would kill her faster than turf 80 miles away.
@MeChupaUnHuevon I'm assuming your looking at GDP in which is heavily inflated by companies like apple etc. dumping billions into this country due to paying no tax, none of that money is circulating in the economy.
This was fantastic. I'm firmly on the side of preserving our native land. Particularly as a large scale energy source. We are hitting a similar resistance to reducing the size of the national herd at the moment. Farmers have a huge amount of power in this country, we are still a rural country in many many ways.
Also fun fact, Luke Ming Flanagan once accidentally searched for nude pictures of a fellow politician....on his twitter text bar. Irish politicians are ridiculous.
Wasn't expecting to learn about the history and cultural importance of bogs and peat today, but it was really informative and interesting. Actually a really good example of the struggles of balancing our cultural needs alongside the need to be good shepherds of the environment.
There's also an ongoing problem within the country. as our population shifted from rural to urban centers, there's been an increase in rural poverty in many areas in the west where bog cutting is still a defended issue. Quite often, there's not enough money going around to retrofit 50-100 year old homes to get people onto more efficient heating or insulation technology, even with government grants, there's not enough to make up the difference. It's looking like for many people in smaller towns or out in the countryside, normal fuel like oil or gas might be too expensive to heat a home with in the coming winters, so people are still falling back to turf burning because of the cost. Meanwhile, most of the environmental policies are focused by people living in urban centers who seem to be making no effort to improve living or environmental standards in the countryside, without doubling down on a smugness that's been turning many rural people away from cooperation.
@@j377yb33n the thing is the money is there, but they don’t want to give anything more than shite grants and thoughts and prayers approach. To give the money required to do so would then create a dangerous precedent for FFG whereby state could intervene in housing which could result in expectations that they would try to build housing. Also to be fair, the turf is not cheap to get unless purchasing from a seller, it requires people spending a lot of time and effort either for minimum or for free to go out cut it stack it and dry it out. It’s mostly our version of brexiteers fish, an emotive cultural thing that actually isn’t nearly as important or necessary as people say it is but chews up a lot of airtime for politicians to rant about and bank east votes Meanwhile you have urban TDs who know the often better educated populace they are reliant on expects them to act on climate or at least try to reduce the burden of fines imposed by the EU for shite environmental policy and massively destructive practices we have done. Combined with that is a knowledge that their voter bases aren’t made up of rural or agriculturally interested people so therefore will try score east brownie points for what is often poorly executed policy, even if well intentioned or necessary
I live in a remote part of Ireland and a lot of my neighbors burn turf. People don't really want to use it. The work to get it cut, dried and stored is immense. It burns quick compared to wood and coal. The reason people use it is that fuel is really expensive and currently we are going though an energy crisis. A lot of people here actually respect the bogs and make sure they are not destroyed as it is our local environment and people understand how much they mean for farming and protecting against flooding. If you go to a bog in Ireland you will realize how little damage locals cutting turf does and how efficiency they use the space as not to needlessly destroy the bog. If you want to have turf year after year you have to protect and respect the source. Rural Ireland politically and economically is a lot different to mainland Europe and cities, which is why everyone gets do annoyed at people who honestly don't know much about what they are talking about or understand the situation trying to implement rules.
People do seem to react like it’s a hobby or a bad habit, like smoking; why won’t you just quit? Is there any effort to profit by other boggy means to pay for modern infrastructure for heating? Here, in New England, cranberries are farmed in bogs. I’m pretty sure moss is still harvested, too, but not so much as peat. I’m not sure if it’s illegal or not, but there are better heating options commonly available here.
I'm from Ireland and essentially live on one of these bogs. Let me give you a different perspective. Our house and many others around us rely on the turf to warm us in the winter, not to mention how poorly insulated our houses are. So the threat of the purchase and burning of turf being made illegal is devastating to all of us. We'll go cold and freeze in the winter with no method of warming ourselves. So it's not a selfish sense of ownership as some people may think. For many of us it's our only way to warm ourselves and our families during the coldest months that last for most of the year.
@@hoogyoutube thank you for the reply! Don't apologize at all. I just think people turn too quickly to preserving the bogs for the environment without realising how many rely on it. It's a serious situation here. An amazing quality video as usual though!
The government should ban the burning and cutting of peat BUT at the same time provide an alternative heating solution for anyone affected, it's obvious to us but governments don't really care about the people and do the cheapest and easiest way especially when only ordinary people are affected.
Yeah, like there are no other means of insulating a house and heating It up... Average temperature of 9°C and high rainfall seems like a good oportunity for geothermal house heating. Expensive investments, but cost effective, and also works as AC during summer. Insulating a house should be just the norm.
@@Hansulf Not everybody can afford such things. The fact I and many others even have to resort to turf in the first place should tell you that money isn't great with many households. And this house was built in the 60's with a poorly built extension in the 90's so good insulation doesn't exist on this house. As much as I would love geothermal heating and good insulation it just isn't an option for us.
It reminds me of the broads in East Anglia. For decades people thought they were a natural feature, then after some excavation and historical research, turns out the area is one giant series of abandoned peat quarries, which quickly flooded once extraction stopped. It has at least resulted in a pretty biodiverse ecosystem, known for its rare birds, insects and amphibians.
A thoroughly researched, informative and well presented video, excellent work! The bog is a defining feature of summer in rural Ireland. I tried to explain to my American friend why we have to rotate and stack chunks of peat each August, and the bewilderment is baffling to those of us who just accept the bog as a part of community life. It was my first job as a 10 year old, to "foot turf", paid €20 per hopper (the rows of cut peat). And every year when the family and neighbours come out the same argument over the best way to stack the turf - in a box or heap.
@Hoog Actually, the reason the potato became popular in Ireland is that during colonisation our land was taken from us by the British and then rented back to us at rates where a productive crop like the potato was the only way to pay rent AND feed ourselves.
@@oscarosullivan4513 Unfortunately, oats were also a popular export crop, and all those oats were exported abroad as soon as us serfs had something that'd cheerfully grow in marginal soil.
I understand bogs are important but its literally the only affordable way to heat homes in rural Ireland. Its either that or oil and oil has gone up over two fold this year and it wasn't cheap before that. I fully agree with rural Irelands peoples rights to use their bogs
Geothermal... Soil is saturarated with water, which makes It even better. 9°C average temperature. The only reason peat is so cheap is because nobody is paying the consecuences.
It’s no surprise how the whole green energy thing is pushed by well-off people. Electric cars. No turf. Wind farm investment. It’s all € and they just don’t get it. They talk of subsidies not realising this ultimately means hiked tax. No matter how much Irish turf is burnt (a lot by me this winter!) CO2 remains a mere trace element in the earth’s atmosphere. This whole greenhouse effect is mainly a water vapour phenomenon anyway. So we are being asked to sabotage our economic well-being for nothing in return. Bad deal. I’m out.
@@lizardlegend42 Well, sure is much easier to keep destroying the environment, right? Until you got nothing left and you need to decide to leave the place to destroy something else OR install geothermal energy. They are postponing the problem and making it worse. There are several channels in UA-cam that show you how to install geothermal DIY with a COP of 4! Those areas are water logged, which is fantastical for heat retention as water have a very high heat capacity. Also, the soil is probably soft as hell, easy to work, and as they live in the countryside, probably have more than enough land. Geothermal is an investment in the long term, so be smart.
The same can be applied to Northern Scotland, Caithness, Sutherland and the Highlands have the same conditions with peat land being predominant, cape wrath for instance is mostly peat land. However since it very sparsely populated, the removal of peat for burning isn't on the same scale as Ireland though the Scottish government is cracking down.
It’s miserable since people there have very poorly insulated houses and aren’t very wealthy. Scotland is famous for making decisions that seem great on the surface but destroy the lives of everyone but the richest people living in Glasgow and Edinburgh. You just know that there won’t be any alternative offered to the people relying on peat except moving away.
In Ireland we need to protect our bogs however the ban entirely on cutting and selling turf being proposed is ridiculous Because of the lack of turf being cut there was briquettes being imported from GERMANY We can't cut it because of the environment, so to then import it when it is already available in our country and have the carbon released from the transport is much worse than doing it the normal way
@@Tasmantor i didn't realise human's had found a better form managing our economies? if you're about to start shilling socialism/communism, I implore you to go live in a country under such systems and then come back to us. I hear N.Korea/China are just lovely this time of year...
@@kaimcloughlin8981 Ah the classic "go to China" response, nevermind the fact that China currently practices capitalism and is the 2nd largest economy in the world and I don't believe Karl Marx wrote anything about Juche you politically illiterate mong. Read a book. Socialism is why your children don't have to sweep chimneys anymore and you get to have the weekend off.
In the Netherlands we still have some pretty big lakes due to taking away all of the bog. I once was in a rowing boat in Zuidaardermeer and fell out. (Yes I was drunk). Turns out the water is just barely a meter deep for big parts of the lake. Still find it a hilarious experience. Happy accident.
as someone who lives in ireland this is very interesting :D Keep up the amazing videos, i meainly like the unique style and quality of the visuals, also you have that type of voice that suits content like this.
I wouldn't say our Pete bogs have some of the oldest ecosystems. The environment was dominantly woodland "Ross". In the 15 hundreds the woodland was rapidly cut down and boglands remained.
they definitely are the oldest in europe as they have preceded and survived multiple ice ages whereas most forests in western and northern europe did not.
Ah turf. I remember footing turf in the bog growing up. Hated the work but when your arse is warm in the winter you appreciate it. Oh and just to let you know. In rural Ireland there was (and remains) a fierce debate about how to stack them, boxes are easier and dry better. Oh and you described Irish bogs as "wounded" but that's only true on bogs ran by Board na Mona. Family bogs tend to, on the net, grow rather than shrink. Hence why families could cut from the same bank for generations. Luke Ming Flannigan made a solid point about it on the late late show years ago now. Bogs aren't public land for the most part, at least the ones where turf cutting goes on. We also don't use the turf spade anymore, we got machines to do it more efficiently, plus tractors and trailers to build jags to bring home. The view held by most rural people is simple, we've been doing it for hundreds of years, our bogs aren't destroyed, it's affordable and we cannot afford the alternatives. How are rural people gonna heat their homes? They can't afford coal or natural gas, most of these people can only eat because of the CAP subsidy.
Draining the bogs destroys them. No matter what way you spin it, turf cutting is an awful practice that destroys ecosystems, emits tons of CO2 and impacts that health of those who burn it.
@@conalllynch7840 have you ever actually cut a bog? Banks are absolutely soaking. Go to rural Ireland and have a walk through the boglands, most drainage comes from fields, not banks. You want your bog to remain wet so when you cut it the turf comes out right. You only wanna drain for fields so you can put cattle on it
@@موسى_7 they're not starving, but most rural farmers in Ireland (and alot of the EU to be frank) survive because of the subsidies from the common agricultural policy (CAP), which has helped stem rural decline
Can you show me where you got this idea that family owned bogs are "growing" because i find that impossible to believe. Bogs take of 10,000 years to form, i for one second do not believe bogs are able to grow faster than theyre being cut away.
Heard a piece about peat in Scotland on 99 pct invisible. There was a scheme to incentivize tree planting, and the peat bogs of Scotland were seen as a nice empty unused land in which to do it. The problem is that replacing peat bog with trees actually reduces the amount of carbon sinking involved. The unique ecosystem of the bog was disrupted and it didn't even accomplish the goal it was intended to, but because there was a tax incentive involved a lot of rich people bought up marshlands and turned them over to forestry firms to turn them into tree farms.
tbh the destruction sounds sad, but tree farms are really important to protect native forestry. I hope if anything positive came about, it was the protection of forest trees.
@Jonathan Odude You are right that tree planting is important, but it is wrong to do it somewhere that trees never grew. The area gets damaged. Where trees should be planted in Scotland (it’s the same deal on Ireland too) is on mountains and near the west coasts where they were removed.
Forestry in Scotland is a blight on the ecology, the trees are not native and do not support the same quality of wildlife and the shadowy plantations allow no growth on the floors.
Amazing video as always. If i was to suggest one edit it would be that the North be included in the map at the 5:10 mark since obviously the potatoes dont stop at the border
Love the clean style of the videos! Thought you'd mention how draining the Dutch bogs in combination with powerful storms resulted in Holland (not the Netherlands) loosing land, which they later reclaimed as everyone knows. Might have been an interesting point considering extreme weather is more frequent now with climate change :/
When they drain a marsh or bog what happens, is that the peat below start to be eaten and turned into gas. So if its 10 metres deep, the level of the land will drop 10 metres with time.
It's so weird being Irish and not being able to imagine it not being a key part of everybody's fuel, and not having to slave away in the bog every summer preparing it hahahaha
I am absolutely speechless. Never have I seen a channel post content of this quality. From the topics, to the animations (that have improved so much btw) to the elegance through which it's all presented... Even the sponsor! The transition was the smoothest I've seen and it felt so meaningful... Congratulations Hoog, keep it up!
You correctly mentioned that the potatoes allowed people in Ireland to grow crops in areas of land that previously was too acidic. But you failed to mention that large swathes of trees were cut down to make way for growing potatoes and since then the trees have not been replanted..the scientists report of rewetting boglands has been taken by the Greens with religious fervour which means that trees will not replanted. The bog carbon sink means plants that die their carbon is captured locally it doesn't mean that co2 is taken out of the air. So the expression carbon sink is a misnomer. To take co2 out of the air you must grow trees
My ancestors were bog farmers in Donegal. My dad dug the turf with his father every summer until he was 16 and it was a huge part of their culture. Where my family hail from in Donegal is reasonably poor, still, but I don't see much turf being dug any more. The people have moved on, despite being the down-and-out "forgotten county"; full of rich traditions and history. I don't see why Irishmen from other parts of the country can't move on too and make their money by other means. The countryside is largely destroyed in Donegal and it's very sad. Also, I think it's important to note that the vast majority of bog in Ireland isn't natural. The bogs exist because of deforestation that occured thousands of years ago when man cut down trees for fuel and materials. The lack of trees turned the ground into bog. 95% or so of Ireland used to be dense woodland. Destroying the bog is destroying something that was already unnatural - Ireland will destroy their habitat until there's nothing left.
I have harvested turf in Ireland. For me, cultural reasons for cutting turf are not good reasons to do it. It is a fuel source and a poor one at that. It is however a very cheap fuel. The government needs to completely subsidise the cost of heating the home with the upkeep around the same cost as cutting turf.
It's way better than lignite they're trying to sell us from the continent. Germany is in danger of running out of oil and gas, they're not in a position to dictate what goes into my stove
Perhaps if we still had our oak forests we might not have had to use the turf. But the forests were used to build the British navy. The land was taken to grow cash crops for export to support a mostly non native, absentee landlord class who regarded their tenants as a nuisance and subhuman.
We went on a school trip to the bogs in primary school, there was these mushy pools of mud we were allowed jump around and swim in, great times , God bless the whoever had to clean that bus after us lol
Could someone explain to me the graph shown at 5:25, about the population growth in Ireland vs continental Europe? It seems to say that at some point the population of Ireland, before the famine, was higher than all of Europe combined. But that has to be wrong, right? Even if it would be just population growth, I’m not sure if it would work? I would love to get what was meant with it.
@@hoogyoutube Ah, that explains a lot! I've been enjoying the content a lot. First discovered you on Nebula actually! This mistake really provoked me haha. Hope it doesn't happen too often ;)
Great, beautiful, informative video! As you grow and progress as a visual artist, I recommend you make things more visually accessible. Some text in darker colours I was unable to read, and some graphics were hard to process and understand
A major reason worldwide for the anger about eco-protective measures is because the people who benefitted the most from damaging the ecosystem are turning around and saying that the people who can least afford it need to shoulder the costs.
😎So true , the poor cant afford middle class morality ,, more to the point they wouldnt want middle class morality even if thay could afford it ,,They insist on having ideas of their own ,,This independence of mind is greatly resented by the snobs of the governing class who think they have a right ,a natural or in some cases a god given right to grab for themselves the moral and political leadership of society ,, The snob class are just as likley to call them selves Liberals or progressives as they are to call themselves Conservitives or Greens or Christians but whatever they call themselves they will insist on being in charge ,,All history is indeed a history of class struggle ,but it is an endless struggle ,there will never be a classless society not under capitalism ,,communism or any other kind of ism ,,,because the snob class will always find new ways of reinventing society in their own interests and in their own image,, Environmentlism is the new relegion of the snob class ,they will sacrafice the economic progress of the masses to protect a planet which dosent need saving since the planet will still be here long after our species is gone in any case ,,. It is the porest people who will be forced to carry the biggest burden to stop the alleged global warming problem ,while the snob class preach to us from on high ,😎
This leaves out how culturally deep this goes. You know that smokey smell in whiskey, that's turf and that's the smell of a cozy Irish sitting room. It's like banning maple syrup in Canada or incense in some cultures. I'm not saying we don't need to give it up but it's not an easy thing to ask.
As a Dutchman living in an area that was once all bog, but which has been cut away, I think banning the extraction of peat is a good thing, but people should get an alternative presented to them.
Regulating and restricting agriculture and land use by farmers and rural communities hits such a nerve because the people most impacted by it feel as though they are being punished for the mistakes of the few. Industrial agriculture and resource harvesting operations, manufacturing and refineries all produce so much pollution that never benefitted the small folk at the bottom, who are now suffering because they have to pick up the slack of gigacorporations and governments that took too long to act.
Agriculture usually operates on thin margins and heavy subsidies, so any restrictions that reduce profit significantly can result in a rash of bankruptcies. More land can become uneconomic to farm, which can greatly impact isolated rural communities.
It is important that we protect our bogs, absolutely, but currently, the excuse of a current government offer no cheap alternatives (and we are by no means well off contrary to economic models) so until that happens, turf will still be cut. Turf will always be harvested and have its own market, hopefully with more decaying plant matter and such, we can see some form of a restoration.
Please check out 80,000 hours at 80000hours.org/hoog. This is an organisation I feel very passionate about, and it was an absolute honor to have them sponsor me.
One glaring error: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IrelandEuropePopulation1750.PNG (there's an axis missing for total population). European population is larger than Irish, obviously, but percentage rate of growth was different.
Sources will be added to this link over time: twitter.com/romulushoog/status/1557389731486318593
Visited though ur link and signed up for the newsletter. I'm surprised I've never heard of them before. Interested in the resources they have to offer!
Happy that you have a sponsor
Thanks for showcasing 80,000 hours. This really is an org that has changed my life for the better.
Without resolution to the problem for the people. But forcing a policy regardless (that is why we are angry) You redistribute populations then force us off a cliff.
Population replacement
From my point of view bogs are amazing for another reason too: preserving organic material. Bog mummies are amazing time capsule.
Now I know what I’ll have my family do with my body
The only issue with that is you won't find the bog bodies unless your digging up the bog.
ancient peoples use to make sacrifies to bogs. We have found a lot of interesting stuff in bogs.
Also Bog Oak can be quite beautiful too when looked after properly.
My wife asked me to put another bit of Pete on the fire place, I said, No, we only have his arm left to see us through winter.
Classic 😂
Really, hanging's too good..!
There's surely another Pete about somewhere. Check the register of electors, there's bound to be one nearby.
I was like "how is he gonna tie the Netherlands into this one?" and then boom. Never thought dirt would be so interesting.
nor described by such clean aesthetics
i knew about the turf in the netherlands, i was suprised he pulled it off twice by talking about dutch farmers
I'm in ireland and my dad owns a bog that we no longer use for turf and it has been recovering slowly but surely, the ground used to be 3 meters higher but reduced due to it being cut away over the years it would be nice to see it in its former glory at some point.
I agree! Hopefully one day in the future we can find a better way to make use of our natural environment then just cutting it down or burning it away
Should be about 3000 years for 3 metres would it not?
@Taivas0 my nans house can only be heated by fireplace its a small cottage in westmeath, turf is what she gets but looks like the government doesn't want turf being bought because it will apparently hurt the poor lungs of dearbha in trinity college studying in liberal arts and vaping which would kill her faster than turf 80 miles away.
@MeChupaUnHuevon I'm assuming your looking at GDP in which is heavily inflated by companies like apple etc. dumping billions into this country due to paying no tax, none of that money is circulating in the economy.
@MeChupaUnHuevon there is a set tax they are meant to pay but the government allows them to not pay it, if only it was as simple as "just tax them".
This was fantastic. I'm firmly on the side of preserving our native land. Particularly as a large scale energy source. We are hitting a similar resistance to reducing the size of the national herd at the moment. Farmers have a huge amount of power in this country, we are still a rural country in many many ways.
Also fun fact, Luke Ming Flanagan once accidentally searched for nude pictures of a fellow politician....on his twitter text bar. Irish politicians are ridiculous.
Your Irish ?
@@tanjoy0205 No can't you tell by his accent? He's obviously Indian
@@HiHowdyDoody what a great joke you must be a Clown !
Nice to see you again Brian!
This is incredible. I didn't know that bog was such a critical resource!
Hey? Mr. Navy?
Paddies love their bogs. Peat digging is an art for them. They have a power station fueled with peat.
And one of the largest industrial railways in Europe
Wasn't expecting to learn about the history and cultural importance of bogs and peat today, but it was really informative and interesting. Actually a really good example of the struggles of balancing our cultural needs alongside the need to be good shepherds of the environment.
There's also an ongoing problem within the country. as our population shifted from rural to urban centers, there's been an increase in rural poverty in many areas in the west where bog cutting is still a defended issue. Quite often, there's not enough money going around to retrofit 50-100 year old homes to get people onto more efficient heating or insulation technology, even with government grants, there's not enough to make up the difference.
It's looking like for many people in smaller towns or out in the countryside, normal fuel like oil or gas might be too expensive to heat a home with in the coming winters, so people are still falling back to turf burning because of the cost.
Meanwhile, most of the environmental policies are focused by people living in urban centers who seem to be making no effort to improve living or environmental standards in the countryside, without doubling down on a smugness that's been turning many rural people away from cooperation.
@@j377yb33n the thing is the money is there, but they don’t want to give anything more than shite grants and thoughts and prayers approach. To give the money required to do so would then create a dangerous precedent for FFG whereby state could intervene in housing which could result in expectations that they would try to build housing.
Also to be fair, the turf is not cheap to get unless purchasing from a seller, it requires people spending a lot of time and effort either for minimum or for free to go out cut it stack it and dry it out. It’s mostly our version of brexiteers fish, an emotive cultural thing that actually isn’t nearly as important or necessary as people say it is but chews up a lot of airtime for politicians to rant about and bank east votes
Meanwhile you have urban TDs who know the often better educated populace they are reliant on expects them to act on climate or at least try to reduce the burden of fines imposed by the EU for shite environmental policy and massively destructive practices we have done.
Combined with that is a knowledge that their voter bases aren’t made up of rural or agriculturally interested people so therefore will try score east brownie points for what is often poorly executed policy, even if well intentioned or necessary
if you’ve never encountered peat, it has a unique and pleasant smell when burnt. Quintessentially Irish ☘️
Mmmmh I do love the smell of carcinogens in the morning...
Ahh yes, about as quintessentially Irish as alcoholism and church subsidised child abuse
@@plainText384 cry about it
@@MobiusMundUr It's the other group that's crying, isn't it?
Peat burning is my favorite smell 😁
I live in a remote part of Ireland and a lot of my neighbors burn turf. People don't really want to use it. The work to get it cut, dried and stored is immense. It burns quick compared to wood and coal. The reason people use it is that fuel is really expensive and currently we are going though an energy crisis. A lot of people here actually respect the bogs and make sure they are not destroyed as it is our local environment and people understand how much they mean for farming and protecting against flooding. If you go to a bog in Ireland you will realize how little damage locals cutting turf does and how efficiency they use the space as not to needlessly destroy the bog. If you want to have turf year after year you have to protect and respect the source. Rural Ireland politically and economically is a lot different to mainland Europe and cities, which is why everyone gets do annoyed at people who honestly don't know much about what they are talking about or understand the situation trying to implement rules.
People do seem to react like it’s a hobby or a bad habit, like smoking; why won’t you just quit?
Is there any effort to profit by other boggy means to pay for modern infrastructure for heating? Here, in New England, cranberries are farmed in bogs. I’m pretty sure moss is still harvested, too, but not so much as peat. I’m not sure if it’s illegal or not, but there are better heating options commonly available here.
@@tinymetaltrees he highlights in his comment as to why people can’t just stop, if you had read it fully
I'm from Ireland and essentially live on one of these bogs. Let me give you a different perspective. Our house and many others around us rely on the turf to warm us in the winter, not to mention how poorly insulated our houses are. So the threat of the purchase and burning of turf being made illegal is devastating to all of us. We'll go cold and freeze in the winter with no method of warming ourselves. So it's not a selfish sense of ownership as some people may think. For many of us it's our only way to warm ourselves and our families during the coldest months that last for most of the year.
Hey Dean, I’m not trying to devalue that. I should paid more attention to domestic heating in this video, sorry
@@hoogyoutube thank you for the reply! Don't apologize at all. I just think people turn too quickly to preserving the bogs for the environment without realising how many rely on it. It's a serious situation here. An amazing quality video as usual though!
The government should ban the burning and cutting of peat BUT at the same time provide an alternative heating solution for anyone affected, it's obvious to us but governments don't really care about the people and do the cheapest and easiest way especially when only ordinary people are affected.
Yeah, like there are no other means of insulating a house and heating It up... Average temperature of 9°C and high rainfall seems like a good oportunity for geothermal house heating. Expensive investments, but cost effective, and also works as AC during summer. Insulating a house should be just the norm.
@@Hansulf Not everybody can afford such things. The fact I and many others even have to resort to turf in the first place should tell you that money isn't great with many households. And this house was built in the 60's with a poorly built extension in the 90's so good insulation doesn't exist on this house. As much as I would love geothermal heating and good insulation it just isn't an option for us.
“What you’re looking at, is peat.”
My brain: “Hi Pete.”
It reminds me of the broads in East Anglia. For decades people thought they were a natural feature, then after some excavation and historical research, turns out the area is one giant series of abandoned peat quarries, which quickly flooded once extraction stopped. It has at least resulted in a pretty biodiverse ecosystem, known for its rare birds, insects and amphibians.
A thoroughly researched, informative and well presented video, excellent work! The bog is a defining feature of summer in rural Ireland. I tried to explain to my American friend why we have to rotate and stack chunks of peat each August, and the bewilderment is baffling to those of us who just accept the bog as a part of community life. It was my first job as a 10 year old, to "foot turf", paid €20 per hopper (the rows of cut peat). And every year when the family and neighbours come out the same argument over the best way to stack the turf - in a box or heap.
@Hoog Actually, the reason the potato became popular in Ireland is that during colonisation our land was taken from us by the British and then rented back to us at rates where a productive crop like the potato was the only way to pay rent AND feed ourselves.
Before that oats were very popular and there was easy enough access to grains as land was under Irish control
@@oscarosullivan4513 Unfortunately, oats were also a popular export crop, and all those oats were exported abroad as soon as us serfs had something that'd cheerfully grow in marginal soil.
I understand bogs are important but its literally the only affordable way to heat homes in rural Ireland. Its either that or oil and oil has gone up over two fold this year and it wasn't cheap before that. I fully agree with rural Irelands peoples rights to use their bogs
Geothermal... Soil is saturarated with water, which makes It even better. 9°C average temperature. The only reason peat is so cheap is because nobody is paying the consecuences.
@@Hansulf Ah yes, because geothermal energy is sooo easy to install for personal use right?
It’s no surprise how the whole green energy thing is pushed by well-off people. Electric cars. No turf. Wind farm investment. It’s all € and they just don’t get it. They talk of subsidies not realising this ultimately means hiked tax. No matter how much Irish turf is burnt (a lot by me this winter!) CO2 remains a mere trace element in the earth’s atmosphere. This whole greenhouse effect is mainly a water vapour phenomenon anyway. So we are being asked to sabotage our economic well-being for nothing in return. Bad deal. I’m out.
@@lizardlegend42 Well, sure is much easier to keep destroying the environment, right? Until you got nothing left and you need to decide to leave the place to destroy something else OR install geothermal energy. They are postponing the problem and making it worse. There are several channels in UA-cam that show you how to install geothermal DIY with a COP of 4! Those areas are water logged, which is fantastical for heat retention as water have a very high heat capacity. Also, the soil is probably soft as hell, easy to work, and as they live in the countryside, probably have more than enough land. Geothermal is an investment in the long term, so be smart.
@@Hansulf Sorry I'm very unfamiliar with small scale personal geothermal generation. I'd have assumed it would be pretty expensive no?
Awesome video man!
Nice too see you here !
The same can be applied to Northern Scotland, Caithness, Sutherland and the Highlands have the same conditions with peat land being predominant, cape wrath for instance is mostly peat land. However since it very sparsely populated, the removal of peat for burning isn't on the same scale as Ireland though the Scottish government is cracking down.
It’s miserable since people there have very poorly insulated houses and aren’t very wealthy. Scotland is famous for making decisions that seem great on the surface but destroy the lives of everyone but the richest people living in Glasgow and Edinburgh. You just know that there won’t be any alternative offered to the people relying on peat except moving away.
playing this on re-peat
In Ireland we need to protect our bogs however the ban entirely on cutting and selling turf being proposed is ridiculous
Because of the lack of turf being cut there was briquettes being imported from GERMANY
We can't cut it because of the environment, so to then import it when it is already available in our country and have the carbon released from the transport is much worse than doing it the normal way
Ah when capitalism proposes to fix it self.
@@Tasmantor i didn't realise human's had found a better form managing our economies?
if you're about to start shilling socialism/communism, I implore you to go live in a country under such systems and then come back to us.
I hear N.Korea/China are just lovely this time of year...
@@kaimcloughlin8981 Ah the classic "go to China" response, nevermind the fact that China currently practices capitalism and is the 2nd largest economy in the world and I don't believe Karl Marx wrote anything about Juche you politically illiterate mong. Read a book. Socialism is why your children don't have to sweep chimneys anymore and you get to have the weekend off.
@@Tasmantor are like 5 years old or something?
You'd blame capitalism for tripping over yourself.
maybe the government should buy up a lot of insulation and install it in rural ireland at a discount.
Yay a video about my country 🇮🇪
In the Netherlands we still have some pretty big lakes due to taking away all of the bog. I once was in a rowing boat in Zuidaardermeer and fell out. (Yes I was drunk). Turns out the water is just barely a meter deep for big parts of the lake.
Still find it a hilarious experience. Happy accident.
as someone who lives in ireland this is very interesting :D
Keep up the amazing videos, i meainly like the unique style and quality of the visuals, also you have that type of voice that suits content like this.
I’m from Ireland too and it was great to see a documentary on UA-cam that was actually correct about Ireland.
I wouldn't say our Pete bogs have some of the oldest ecosystems. The environment was dominantly woodland "Ross". In the 15 hundreds the woodland was rapidly cut down and boglands remained.
they definitely are the oldest in europe as they have preceded and survived multiple ice ages whereas most forests in western and northern europe did not.
@@yurashida Source?
Ah turf. I remember footing turf in the bog growing up. Hated the work but when your arse is warm in the winter you appreciate it.
Oh and just to let you know. In rural Ireland there was (and remains) a fierce debate about how to stack them, boxes are easier and dry better.
Oh and you described Irish bogs as "wounded" but that's only true on bogs ran by Board na Mona. Family bogs tend to, on the net, grow rather than shrink. Hence why families could cut from the same bank for generations. Luke Ming Flannigan made a solid point about it on the late late show years ago now.
Bogs aren't public land for the most part, at least the ones where turf cutting goes on. We also don't use the turf spade anymore, we got machines to do it more efficiently, plus tractors and trailers to build jags to bring home.
The view held by most rural people is simple, we've been doing it for hundreds of years, our bogs aren't destroyed, it's affordable and we cannot afford the alternatives. How are rural people gonna heat their homes? They can't afford coal or natural gas, most of these people can only eat because of the CAP subsidy.
Draining the bogs destroys them. No matter what way you spin it, turf cutting is an awful practice that destroys ecosystems, emits tons of CO2 and impacts that health of those who burn it.
@@conalllynch7840 have you ever actually cut a bog? Banks are absolutely soaking. Go to rural Ireland and have a walk through the boglands, most drainage comes from fields, not banks. You want your bog to remain wet so when you cut it the turf comes out right. You only wanna drain for fields so you can put cattle on it
The Irish are starving?
So much for being a tax haven.
@@موسى_7 they're not starving, but most rural farmers in Ireland (and alot of the EU to be frank) survive because of the subsidies from the common agricultural policy (CAP), which has helped stem rural decline
Can you show me where you got this idea that family owned bogs are "growing" because i find that impossible to believe. Bogs take of 10,000 years to form, i for one second do not believe bogs are able to grow faster than theyre being cut away.
this is such a great video, this channel is truly a gem.
Heard a piece about peat in Scotland on 99 pct invisible. There was a scheme to incentivize tree planting, and the peat bogs of Scotland were seen as a nice empty unused land in which to do it. The problem is that replacing peat bog with trees actually reduces the amount of carbon sinking involved. The unique ecosystem of the bog was disrupted and it didn't even accomplish the goal it was intended to, but because there was a tax incentive involved a lot of rich people bought up marshlands and turned them over to forestry firms to turn them into tree farms.
tbh the destruction sounds sad, but tree farms are really important to protect native forestry. I hope if anything positive came about, it was the protection of forest trees.
@Jonathan Odude You are right that tree planting is important, but it is wrong to do it somewhere that trees never grew. The area gets damaged.
Where trees should be planted in Scotland (it’s the same deal on Ireland too) is on mountains and near the west coasts where they were removed.
@@jonathanodude6660 “More tree = enviroment gooder” is a mindset I can’t believe anyone still has.
Forestry in Scotland is a blight on the ecology, the trees are not native and do not support the same quality of wildlife and the shadowy plantations allow no growth on the floors.
@@michaelbalfour3170 That sounds very similar to what I have seen in Ireland. Are the trees planted all spruce?
This was a great video, I might suggest brightening the maps as I really struggled to see parts of Europe you were highlighting
I'm from connemara and spent many a summer on the bog harvesting the turf. Great job on the doc!
Amazing content like always mate :)
Love learning about our European cousins
Amazing video as always. If i was to suggest one edit it would be that the North be included in the map at the 5:10 mark since obviously the potatoes dont stop at the border
Fair play for the Irish pronunciation! Such a quality video.
Visual style of this video is very good, and you voice and pacing is excellent. Subbed!
guy at 8:48 is like: "There are no threatened species in these bogs Kathleen!"
Love the clean style of the videos!
Thought you'd mention how draining the Dutch bogs in combination with powerful storms resulted in Holland (not the Netherlands) loosing land, which they later reclaimed as everyone knows.
Might have been an interesting point considering extreme weather is more frequent now with climate change :/
When they drain a marsh or bog what happens, is that the peat below start to be eaten and turned into gas. So if its 10 metres deep, the level of the land will drop 10 metres with time.
Great video! Living in England my only real knowledge of peat was the way it makes water taste, I had no idea how critical a resource it really is
It's so weird being Irish and not being able to imagine it not being a key part of everybody's fuel, and not having to slave away in the bog every summer preparing it hahahaha
I am absolutely speechless. Never have I seen a channel post content of this quality. From the topics, to the animations (that have improved so much btw) to the elegance through which it's all presented... Even the sponsor! The transition was the smoothest I've seen and it felt so meaningful... Congratulations Hoog, keep it up!
Really though. Who does these animations!? They're amazing!!!!!
You correctly mentioned that the potatoes allowed people in Ireland to grow crops in areas of land that previously was too acidic. But you failed to mention that large swathes of trees were cut down to make way for growing potatoes and since then the trees have not been replanted..the scientists report of rewetting boglands has been taken by the Greens with religious fervour which means that trees will not replanted. The bog carbon sink means plants that die their carbon is captured locally it doesn't mean that co2 is taken out of the air. So the expression carbon sink is a misnomer. To take co2 out of the air you must grow trees
The memes, Fine Fail and Finna Fail
the visuals and editing improve with every vid. very nice
This is some high quality production. Keep it up!
My ancestors were bog farmers in Donegal. My dad dug the turf with his father every summer until he was 16 and it was a huge part of their culture. Where my family hail from in Donegal is reasonably poor, still, but I don't see much turf being dug any more. The people have moved on, despite being the down-and-out "forgotten county"; full of rich traditions and history. I don't see why Irishmen from other parts of the country can't move on too and make their money by other means. The countryside is largely destroyed in Donegal and it's very sad.
Also, I think it's important to note that the vast majority of bog in Ireland isn't natural. The bogs exist because of deforestation that occured thousands of years ago when man cut down trees for fuel and materials. The lack of trees turned the ground into bog. 95% or so of Ireland used to be dense woodland. Destroying the bog is destroying something that was already unnatural - Ireland will destroy their habitat until there's nothing left.
I have harvested turf in Ireland. For me, cultural reasons for cutting turf are not good reasons to do it. It is a fuel source and a poor one at that. It is however a very cheap fuel. The government needs to completely subsidise the cost of heating the home with the upkeep around the same cost as cutting turf.
💯
It's way better than lignite they're trying to sell us from the continent. Germany is in danger of running out of oil and gas, they're not in a position to dictate what goes into my stove
100% i think the only good thing about burning turf is the smell
Why should the government subsidise that? They don’t subsidise my fuel costs in Dublin.
@@matthewbarry376
Step 1: Subsidize Fuel cost
Step 2: Increase taxes to cover subsidy
Fantastic video once again!
Finnoscandia! You said it! You said the word! CGP Grey would be so happy now :D
This is so well informed, it’s weird. We’ll done
props to the 3D graphics, they're nice to look at and well done
The nutter equating peat harvesting being outlawed to the state taking his kids legit made me lol.
I was hoping for a video on Ireland for ages, but I never thought It'd be about this
Perhaps if we still had our oak forests we might not have had to use the turf. But the forests were used to build the British navy. The land was taken to grow cash crops for export to support a mostly non native, absentee landlord class who regarded their tenants as a nuisance and subhuman.
The production value on this is insane I can’t believe it has so few views
I never thought I’d see TD Michael Healy ray on this or any popular UA-cam channel ever 💀💀. 9:28
I didn't either
Pity his comb over is covered🤣
To those who don't live in Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland, peat/turf smells AMAZING when burnt lmao
Yeah, the smell of cancer
@@Hansulf Cancer smells pretty good it would seem
0:03 Hi Pete, nice to meet you!
I just wanted to say, your videos are really high quality and informative but they're very quiet compared to videos on other channels
Nice, you just kept adding interesting things!
I am a simple man, I see a Hoog video, I click
We used to use peat a lot in the Netherlands as well.
We burned almost all of it. The remainder is mostly protected as natural parks and such.
Can’t wait to watch this video about mud!!
This is going to be one of the best youtubers
Your channel is awesome! Just subscribed today
We went on a school trip to the bogs in primary school, there was these mushy pools of mud we were allowed jump around and swim in, great times , God bless the whoever had to clean that bus after us lol
Ah bog hole jumping, iconic
Great visual style. I love it. Reminds me of Lemino. Although this video was a litzle dark sometimes.
Could someone explain to me the graph shown at 5:25, about the population growth in Ireland vs continental Europe? It seems to say that at some point the population of Ireland, before the famine, was higher than all of Europe combined. But that has to be wrong, right? Even if it would be just population growth, I’m not sure if it would work? I would love to get what was meant with it.
You're completely right, I forgot the other axis. Good catch, and I pinned the error: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IrelandEuropePopulation1750.PNG
@@hoogyoutube Ah, that explains a lot! I've been enjoying the content a lot. First discovered you on Nebula actually! This mistake really provoked me haha. Hope it doesn't happen too often ;)
Great, beautiful, informative video! As you grow and progress as a visual artist, I recommend you make things more visually accessible. Some text in darker colours I was unable to read, and some graphics were hard to process and understand
A major reason worldwide for the anger about eco-protective measures is because the people who benefitted the most from damaging the ecosystem are turning around and saying that the people who can least afford it need to shoulder the costs.
😎So true , the poor cant afford middle class morality ,, more to the point they wouldnt want middle class morality even if thay could afford it ,,They insist on having ideas of their own ,,This independence of mind is greatly resented by the snobs of the governing class who think they have a right ,a natural or in some cases a god given right to grab for themselves the moral and political leadership of society ,, The snob class are just as likley to call them selves Liberals or progressives as they are to call themselves Conservitives or Greens or Christians but whatever they call themselves they will insist on being in charge ,,All history is indeed a history of class struggle ,but it is an endless struggle ,there will never be a classless society not under capitalism ,,communism or any other kind of ism ,,,because the snob class will always find new ways of reinventing society in their own interests and in their own image,, Environmentlism is the new relegion of the snob class ,they will sacrafice the economic progress of the masses to protect a planet which dosent need saving since the planet will still be here long after our species is gone in any case ,,. It is the porest people who will be forced to carry the biggest burden to stop the alleged global warming problem ,while the snob class preach to us from on high ,😎
This leaves out how culturally deep this goes. You know that smokey smell in whiskey, that's turf and that's the smell of a cozy Irish sitting room. It's like banning maple syrup in Canada or incense in some cultures. I'm not saying we don't need to give it up but it's not an easy thing to ask.
As a Dutchman living in an area that was once all bog, but which has been cut away, I think banning the extraction of peat is a good thing, but people should get an alternative presented to them.
9:24 Europe scapegoating their problems on a single group of people and not fixing the problem?
Some things never change.
Europe pays out INSANE amounts of subsidies to farmers? What are you even talking about
Have to comment to commend your pronunciation of 'bagach'. Your 'ch' was perfect.
I'm having too much fun imagining they're talking about a person named Pete, who's so famous they refer to him as "The Pete".
Your shaders look insanely good
I took a shot everytime Hoog said "peat" in this video
People always say "protect the environment", but it's always to the detriment of people living in these environments.
And weird how the "protect the environment"-people often live in concrete jungles and yet they don't want you living of your land...
called the uk england at 3:00 i am untethered and my rage knows no bounds
Excellent and well researched
Great video!
Best video so far, keep it up boss
i always find it strange finding a video essay about something about ireland
3:15 wales & Scotland: am I a joke to you?
Just found your channel. I love the diorama style animations! Keep it up, you have something very unique
Woah, the Dutch news (NOS journaal) just picked up the peat story as well!
amazing production value! :)
Another fantastic video about an interesting topic!
As a german speaker this video sounded so much like the plumbus bit from rick and morty haha
This is an amazing video essay!!!!
this was a really good video thank you
Yo that 80 000 hours ad hit like a train ngl
tru
In what way? The transition or the content?
@@hoogyoutube Content. Transition was spot on
Amazing video
Regulating and restricting agriculture and land use by farmers and rural communities hits such a nerve because the people most impacted by it feel as though they are being punished for the mistakes of the few. Industrial agriculture and resource harvesting operations, manufacturing and refineries all produce so much pollution that never benefitted the small folk at the bottom, who are now suffering because they have to pick up the slack of gigacorporations and governments that took too long to act.
Agriculture usually operates on thin margins and heavy subsidies, so any restrictions that reduce profit significantly can result in a rash of bankruptcies. More land can become uneconomic to farm, which can greatly impact isolated rural communities.
The prices for produce aren’t great from what I have read
Great video, didn't knew bogs were so important
Love your videos, ga zo door!
7:30 Blatterworts are fascinating plants, highly recommend searching for videos of them catching prey on YT.
i have an uncle that lives in the very south of ireland and he's actually built a turf cutting machine
Stunning video as always - does anyone what software the animations are made with?
I use a bunch for different purposes, but mainly Adobe Suite, Blender, Cavalry, and Davinci Resolve
@@hoogyoutube Thanks
It is important that we protect our bogs, absolutely, but currently, the excuse of a current government offer no cheap alternatives (and we are by no means well off contrary to economic models) so until that happens, turf will still be cut. Turf will always be harvested and have its own market, hopefully with more decaying plant matter and such, we can see some form of a restoration.
excelent visuals, good video
great video.
It's a real crisis if people have no alternative to heat beyond peat, it's not a renewable resource in the terms of a human lifetime.
"oldest ecosystems in Europe" ... so like 12000 years, because before that the ice was there, a few hundred meters of it high
Good show.