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Warmer Soil Releasing More Carbon
Even the dirt on the ground is likely making climate change worse, a new
study finds. Researchers have shown that warmer temperatures are heating
the soil, which is causing microbes to become more active and release
more of the soil’s carbon into the atmosphere.
Ben Bond-Lamberty of the Joint Global Change Research Institute is the
lead author of the study. He says, “These soil changes can potentially
contribute to even higher temperatures.”
The findings were published on August 2 in the journal Nature.
What the study showed
Scientists studied device readings, soil measurements, plant growth
details and satellite observations from around the world. Their work is
the most complete study yet on the subject.
They found a sharp increase in carbon released into the atmosphere by
bacteria and fungi in soil from 1990 through 2014. Researchers explain
that the carbon comes from the dead plants and leaves the microbes eat.
As temperatures rise, the microbes eat more. And the more they eat, the
more carbon they make into carbon dioxide and release into the
atmosphere.
This uncontrolled cycle speeds up and intensifies climate change, says
Jerry Melillo of Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts. Melilo
was not part of the study.
How do fossil fuels fit in?
Overall, soil releases about nine times more carbon than human-caused
activities. But that is part of a natural cycle: The amount of carbon
released into the air is about equal to the carbon oceans and plants
take in.
However, carbon released from fossil fuel causes an imbalance. Burning
coal, oil and natural gas puts more carbon into the atmosphere than
nature can take out. The additional carbon heats the air and soil. And
as the air and soil get hotter, the earth will release yet more carbon
that it has been holding.
If something isn't done, "we are really in trouble," said Rattan Lal of
Ohio State University, who wasn't part of the study.
He added that proper soil conservation can help keep more carbon in soil.
Conservation methods include avoiding turning the soil, covering off-season
crops and leaving crop deposits on the ground.