Dirt is Clean for the Air? (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-dirt-can-clean-the-air/)11/23/2017 Soil management doesn't sound snazzy, but scientists say it offers huge potential for keeping carbon emissions in the ground—and out of the atmosphere. Storage potential differs region by region, the researchers note. While scientists now broadly agree that changes in land management and agricultural practices may improve the ground's carbon-storing potential, how and even whether to do so remains a topic of discussion among policymakers. A paper published this week in the journal Scientific Reports estimates that improved land-use practices could increase the amount of carbon stored in the top layer of soils worldwide by between 0.9 and 1.85 billion metric tons each year. Worldwide, scientists estimate that the planet's soil alone contains about 2.5 trillion tons of carbon in its top 3-foot layer. At the high end, that's about as much carbon as is emitted by the transportation sector annually, the researchers note. Protecting and expanding the world's carbon sinks—including the ocean, the soil, global forests and other types of vegetation, all of which naturally store away carbon that would otherwise go into the atmosphere—is increasingly regarded by scientists as a major climate change mitigation tool. This week's paper uses information from global soil and land-cover databases to investigate how much more carbon might be sequestered in locations around the world under improved land management practices, building on previous research published in 2014. "Analyses like this help us understand the importance of soil management for reaching climate goals. North America has the highest potential for total amount of carbon storage over all the land available, although parts of South Asia and North Africa have the greatest potential for storage on a per-hectare basis. But scientists now increasingly suggest that improving soil health, through practices such as rotating crops or composting, can increase its carbon-storing potential.
It is interesting to think that dirt...a thing we all attribute with disgust, could actually be used to cleanse the air. At first, I thought this was some conservative propaganda trying to tell me that cows are beneficial to the environment, but when I saw it was by scientific america, I realized it actually had substance to it. The article is extremely interesting, but is also puts into perspective how desperate we are as human beings...to think we would have to turn to dirt to clean something...that is oddly paradoxical. Whether or not it could actually come to fruition and work is another question, but I think with enough dedicated scientists and adequate funding from the federal government...oh...wait...funds to help promote environmental friendly practices? Yeah...never going to happen. Better get to crowd funding in order to save the planet that we live on!
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