Effects of soil on climate change questioned

Soil may not be adding to climate change to quite the same extent as previously thought, if a new government study is to be believed.

The department for environment, food and rural affairs carried out a national survey to test the net change in carbon levels in soil over about the last quarter of a century and found that there had been no loss of the substance, reported the Guardian.

In contrast, the news provider highlighted how a report published in 2005 in Nature indicated that 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide had been released from the soil in England and Wales over the previous 25 years.

However, Professor Bridget Emmett, author of the new study, stressed that this does not mean that a threat has been dispelled, since soil quality is more of a long-term concern, according to the publication.

Professor Emmett works for the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, which is part of the Natural Environment Research Council and conducts independent studies for the private sector as well as the government.

Posted by Lauren Steadman