Mitigation of global climate change requires clean energy and effective removal of carbon from the atmosphere. Recently, a study jointly carried out by the Nature Conservation Association and Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has summed up the carbon emission reduction potential of soil in global forests, wetlands, agriculture and grasslands for the first time, and calculated the huge potential of global soil in carbon storage. The research results were published online in nature sustainability, a subsidiary of nature.

Climate change and the increase of extreme climate events such as drought, rainstorm and flood caused by it are changing the living environment of human beings greatly, and mitigation of climate change is one of the main contents of coping with climate change. Although nature has a strong role in mitigating uncontrolled climate change, compared with the concern of forests or mangroves, soil as a natural climate solution has been paid less attention in history.

Because of the relevant interests in agriculture, increasing soil carbon content is an effective way to increase carbon sink and reduce emissions. However, the actual implementation of soil carbon climate strategy lags behind its potential, in part due to the lack of clear understanding of the potential scale and how to use this opportunity. Researchers at the mountain center of Kunming Institute of Botany quantified the role of land-based soil carbon in natural climate solutions, and reviewed some project design mechanisms with potential for use.

Research shows that soil accounts for 25% of the total potential of global natural climate solutions, 40% of which is the protection of existing soil carbon, and 60% is the reconstruction of endangered populations. Soil carbon accounts for 9% of forest mitigation potential, 72% of wetland, 47% of agriculture and grassland. In addition to climate change mitigation, soil carbon is also important for the prevention of carbon emissions on land, the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the provision of ecosystem services.

It is a timely reminder that human beings should not neglect the huge potential of soil and improved soil management for carbon storage and the many benefits that these ecosystems can bring to climate, wildlife and agriculture.

In addition, agroforestry is one of the most important ways to increase soil organic carbon, which has great potential for global climate change mitigation. Good agricultural production based on improving soil health can not only effectively increase agricultural biodiversity and livelihood diversification, but also improve the resilience of farms and ecosystems. For the agricultural sector, more effective soil management is the greatest contribution to climate change mitigation.

Source: Science and Technology Daily