The amount of carbon dioxide produced by microbes breaking down organic matter in soil is incredibly high - five times greater than all the CO2 we release from burning fossil fuels and other human activities.
This highlights the importance of soil health in the global carbon cycle.
Global Warming Exacerbates the Problem: Climate change is expected to alter rainfall patterns, leading to more frequent cycles of soil drying and rewetting.
This process significantly increases the amount of CO2 released from the soil.
Studies have shown that these drying and rewetting cycles can cause a 1.3 to 3.7 times greater release of CO2 from soil compared to consistently moist conditions.
What does this mean?
This information suggests a potentially significant positive feedback loop:
Global warming leads to changes in precipitation.
These changes cause more drying and rewetting cycles in soil.
Drying and rewetting release more CO2 from the soil.
More CO2 in the atmosphere further accelerates global warming.
Why is this important?
This highlights the critical need to consider soil management practices in strategies to mitigate climate change.
Protecting soil health and minimizing disturbances that lead to carbon release will be essential to prevent this potentially large source of CO2 from further exacerbating global warming.
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