The complexity of our global situation is not easily understood when we approach it piecemeal. It is a system and all of its "parts" are interacting. Carbon is a common thread but we look at it piecemeal too.
In the course of this incomplete way of trying to comprehend our situation we neglect some facets and emphasize others. Latetly it has been the atmosphere , the oceans and ice.
One central factor has been, In my opinion, neglected and that neglect can be harmful. Our existence centers around food and food comes from the soil.
The soil is starting to be put into perspective. This article,Is 2015 The Year Soil Becomes Climate Change’s Hottest Topic?, in Climate Progress tries to bring it to our attention. read on below for more.
It should be obvious but maybe it is not:
So why is soil so important?
“If you look at the global carbon created in nature under land-based systems, soil and trees are the two dominant reservoirs where carbon is,” Rattan Lal, director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at Ohio State University, told ThinkProgress.
Soils — and the microbes that live within them — store three times as much carbon as is in the atmosphere, and four and a half times as much as in all plants and animals. “If the soil carbon reserve is not managed properly,” Lal said, “it can easily overwhelm the atmosphere.”
Climate change can stimulate the release of carbon from soil in a few different ways. Normally, carbon is bonded to minerals in the soil, which helps keep carbon locked in the soil and out of the atmosphere. A recent report by scientists at Oregon State University, however, found that when chemicals emitted by plant roots interact with minerals in soil, it can cause carbon to break free. This exposes the carbon to decomposition by microbes in the soil, which pass it into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. As the climate warms, the scientists found, more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will stimulate the growth of plants, which will in turn stimulate the production of the root compounds that breakdown carbon and soil minerals.
One more case of complex feedback in all of what goes on.
This study does not focus on Agribis and the harm it does to the soil but it dances around it nicely:
“Most of the time the perception is that agriculture is a big time problem,” he said. “Yes, agriculture done improperly can definitely be a problem, but agriculture done in a proper way is an important solution to environmental issues including climate change, water issues, and biodiversity.”
It is the understatement here that should stimulate discussion. We are harming the soil at a fantastic rate. It is still another area where action needs to be taken and it needs to be done soon. We have so much to do if we want to stop the suicidal race we are running with time.