Carbon catch-22: the pollution in our soil

Bad behaviour doesn’t usually have good consequences but our fossil fuel and fertiliser habits may have had some “good” environmental side-effects. Our new research suggests that the last 200 years of pollution have increased the carbon stored in soils across natural ecosystems in Britain. And this locking in of carbon in soils provides an offset for some of our carbon emissions. But the catch-22 is if we kick our polluting habits, this carbon is at risk of returning to our atmosphere, contributing to climate change.

The increase in soil carbon storage in natural habitats is due to another element: nitrogen. Atmospheric nitrogen pollution has not enjoyed the limelight of its high-profile cousin, carbon dioxide, but they share a similar history. Burning fossil fuels and intensive farming not only releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but also reactive nitrogen. Being reactive means that this nitrogen doesn’t stay in the atmosphere for long, but gets deposited back on the land, especially via rainfall.

http://theconversation.com/carbon-catch-22-the-pollution-in-our-soil-78718

Greenfleet Australia

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