Australia sets aside $32 million for soil carbon research

The Australian government has announced that it will allocate AU$32 million (£14.6 million) to research into soil carbon and nitrous oxide in a bid to explore the effects of climate change.

According to Tony Burke, Australia's minister for agriculture, fisheries and forestry, the research will be the most comprehensive ever conducted in the country.

It will focus on the volumes of carbon trapped by soil, which is believed to be greater than that stored by forests and could be integral to Australia's battle to reduce emissions and improve its future environmental prospects.

Mr Burke stated that Australia could become a "world leader" in this field of research.

"We have so much land covered by pastures and other farming systems that we could significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by boosting soil carbon storage," he continued.

Last November, research undertaken by Cornell University in New York discovered that some soils, such as black soil, may not release as much carbon as previously thought.