A recent study led by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of Zurich has revealed that the organic compounds proposed for carbon sequestration in deep soil are highly vulnerable to decomposition under global warming.
A recent study led by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of Zurich has revealed that the organic compounds proposed for carbon sequestration in deep soil are highly vulnerable to decomposition under global warming. The finding has implications for a key strategy in carbon management that relies on soil and forests – natural carbon “sinks” – to mitigate global warming.
About 25 percent of global carbon emissions are captured by forests, grasslands, and rangelands. During photosynthesis, plants store carbon in their cell walls and in the soil. Because of rich carbon stores from decades past, soils contain twice as much carbon as the atmosphere does, and deeper subsoils (more than 8 inches or 20 centimeters) account for roughly half of the soil carbon. But as global populations rise, so do our demands for new croplands and timber. Research shows that disturbing the natural world for commerce has a price: the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that emissions from deforestation and agriculture account for around a fifth of global greenhouse gases.
“Our study shows that climate change will affect all aspects of soil carbon and nutrient cycling. It also shows that in terms of carbon sequestration, there’s no silver bullet. If we want soil to sustain carbon sequestration in a warming world, we will need better soil management practices, which can mean minimal disturbance of soils during forest management and agriculture,” said Margaret Torn, a senior scientist in Berkeley Lab’s Earth & Environmental Sciences Area and a senior author of the study.
Read More: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Photo Credit: Roy Kaltschmidt/Berkeley Lab
