Thursday, 03 December 2015 10:37

Soil key to limiting global warming - expert

Written by 
Soil's ability to store carbon and contain greenhouse gases could globally limit climate warming. Soil's ability to store carbon and contain greenhouse gases could globally limit climate warming.

Soil's ability to store carbon and contain greenhouse gases could globally limit climate warming, says a University of Sydney expert.

University of Sydney Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Environment Professor of Soil Science Alex McBratney, and colleagues, have published an essay on the topic in The Conversation to coincide with yesterday's global soil focus.

McBratney had many things to say about an international research programme launched by France's agriculture minister called '4 pour mille' or '4 per 1000', a project which sets a target of increasing the amount of carbon-containing organic matter in the world's soils by 0.4% a year.

McBratney says, "The world's soils could be a key ally in the fight to limit global warming to 2°C. Soils' ability to store carbon and contain greenhouse gases could be game-changing in the global effort to limit climate warming.

"Soils are able to store approximately 2.4 trillion tonnes of carbon, making it the largest terrestrial carbon pool. The top two metres of the planet's soils hold four times the amount of carbon stored in all the world's plants.

"The '4 per 1000' target proposed by France's agriculture minister is an ambitious aspiration, but perhaps even more important is the effect this initiative will have on promoting good soil management which will ultimately help to mitigate climate change."

More like this

The politics of climate change

OPINION: The Financial Times, a major international newspaper, featured New Zealand on its front page at the beginning of June. It wasn't for the right reasons.

Featured

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

National

Machinery & Products

Tech might take time

Agritech Unleashed – a one-day event held recently at Mystery Creek, near Hamilton – focused on technology as an ‘enabler’…

John Deere acquires GUSS Automation

John Deere has announced the full acquisition of GUSS Automation, LLC, a globally recognised leader in supervised high-value crop autonomy,…

Fencing excellence celebrated

The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards,…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

A step too far

OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…

Save us from SAFE

OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter