Even without development, expected temperature increases have scientists worried that the peat will dry out, making it a likelier fuel for fire caused by lightning strikes or humans. Burning peat emits carbon dioxide more quickly and is hard to put out.

It’s a scenario that Sean Thomas, research professor of forests and environmental change at the University of Toronto, calls “nightmarish.”

“If you want to see what the potential environmental impacts of peat fires are, look at southeast Asia,” he said.

In 2015, peat fires set to clear land for pulpwood and palm oil production in Indonesia blanketed large swaths of South East Asia in toxic smog. The fires released an average of 11.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per day over two months, according to one study. That’s more than the average daily carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels throughout the entire European Union during the same time period. Researchers at Harvard and Columbia universities estimate that more than 90,000 premature deaths in Indonesia may have been caused by the smog.

THE DANGER OF BURNING PEAT Emissions from fossil fuels and cement production (million tonnes of C02) Emissions from burning peat in two months (million tonnes of C02) Scientists estimate that the Indonesian peat fires of Sept. and Oct. 2015 released close to 700 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. That’s about 230 million tonnes more than the CO2 emitted by fossil fuels and cement production in the country for that entire year. Source: Huijnen, V. et al. Fire carbon emissions over maritime southeast Asia in 2015 largest since 1997. Scientific Reports, Vol. 6. Article number: 26886 (2016). nature.com , and Global Climate Project, icos-cp.eu

“The thing about peat burning is that it will smoulder away for long periods of time. And the pollutants that are generated by peat fires are horrific,” said Thomas.

Thawing permafrost and increased precipitation can also make peat wetter during some parts of the year, and that can lead to another bad result: methane emissions.

Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is produced by microbes in moist environments that consume decaying organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Microbial activity increases exponentially with temperature, so the warmer and wetter it gets, the more methane scientists expect will be produced.

Methane is about 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping heat in the atmosphere. But over time, unlike carbon dioxide, methane is eventually eliminated due to chemical reactions in the atmosphere.

The impact of a few new roads cutting across this vast wilderness is unknown. But scientists are concerned about the cumulative effects of development in an already changing environment. Infrastructure, like a road, creates barriers to animal movement and disrupts habitats, including streams that are critical for spawning. Soil and water flow can also be altered and invasive species can move in.

“I think the potential for cascading effects grows,” said Nathan Basiliko, Canada Research Chair in Environmental Microbiology at Laurentian University in Sudbury. He notes that with more roads comes more resource extraction and possible construction of transmission lines, which in turn, causes more disturbances.

In one lake north of Sudbury, the adult population of lake trout declined by about 70 per cent in just five weeks due to fishing after a new road allowed access to the lake, according to one study.

Noront’s Coutts says that most of the planned route to the Ring of Fire will follow an esker, a naturally raised glacial highland, to avoid sensitive bog areas and, where possible, rely on existing forestry roads.

The Far North Science Advisory Panel notes that while eskers could be used for road construction, they are important for caribou migration and provide dens for wolves, wolverines and other animals.

Part of the road will traverse low-lying bogs or swamps, and Coutts acknowledges this will make an impact.

“Where there was no road, there will be a road,” he said. “The trick really is to try to mitigate (the impacts) the best you can, and this is what our environmental assessment processes do.”

Bruce Achneepineskum PHOTO

About 120 kilometres south of the Ring of Fire, where the Albany and Ogoki Rivers meet, lies Marten Falls First Nation. The only way into the remote community is by air or a winter road.

Winter roads are man-made routes of snow and ice – packed down by snowmobiles and ski-hill groomers – and are vital for the movement of bulky items such as lumber, construction equipment and annual supplies of diesel for electricity generation. Northern communities rely on a network of dozens of these roads for a short window of time every year.

Marten Falls Chief Bruce Achneepineskum said that in the past the 135-kilometre winter road connecting his community to roads in the south supported heavy truck traffic for two months or longer. Now, he says, the community is lucky to have it for four weeks.

“It’s warmer. The weather patterns have changed, too,” Achneepineskum said. “One year we were hovering at zero degrees Celsius in January for a whole week.”

Marten Falls, which has a population of about 780, half of whom live on reserve, recently began working with infrastructure firm AECOM to conduct an environmental assessment for an all-season road that could be extended to the Ring of Fire.

Marten Falls also signed an agreement with Noront that makes the First Nation a shareholder, compensates it for work done on traditional lands and starts a process for it to have input into how Noront’s first mine will be developed.

“Like anybody in today’s modern world, our people just want to move ahead, grow our community,” Achneepineskum said.

Building roads is akin to a positive feedback loop threatening this vulnerable place: because of warmer temperatures, winter roads are melting, which requires the building of permanent roads, which threaten the stability of the ecosystems, making them more susceptible to warming.