Climate Change and Soil

8/10/2019 Climate Change and Soil

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Climate Change and Soil


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What is climate?

Climate is an average of weather

(temperature, rainfall...) over a longtime (more than 2-3 weeks).


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What makes climate change?

Changes in the sun

Changes in the earth's orbit

Changes in the clouds

Changes in ice sheets

Volcanic eruptions

Changes in the gases in the atmosphere

Internal Wiggles (for example El Nino)

Climate changes can be natural or human caused.

Humans can affect the climate by changing the gases

in the atmosphere (greenhouse effect)


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The Greenhouse Effect


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The most important human-affected greenhouse gases are:

Greenhouse GasLife Span in the

Atmosphere

Heat-Trapping Effectiveness

(1 is lowest)

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) 2-30 years 1

Methane (CH4) 6-11 years 20-30 (21)

Nitrous Oxide (N2O) 120-150 years 296

Fluorinated Gases 65-111 years 15,000-20,000
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Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major greenhouse gas

Human burning offossil fuels, and plants releases CO2

Human influence on climate:the Greenhouse Effect


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Sources of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs)

Carbon Dioxide (CO2): fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal),

solid waste, trees and wood products, and also as a result ofother chemical reactions (e.g., manufacture of cement).

Methane (CH4): production and transport of coal, natural gas,

and oil; livestock and other agricultural practices and by the

decay of organic waste in municipal solid waste landfills. Nitrous Oxide (N2O): agricultural and industrial activities, as

well as during combustion of fossil fuels and solid waste.

Fluorinated Gases: (Hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons,

and sulphur hexafluoride): synthetic, powerful greenhousegases from a variety of industrial processes.

Sources: EPA, IPCC


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Have we changed the climate?Changes in global temperature over the last 125 years


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Have we changed the climate?

Changes in global temperature over the last 1,000 years


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1928

2000

The South Cascade glacier

retreated dramatically inthe 20th century

Have we changed the climate?

Glaciers are retreating allover world


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Climate change: Vulnerability to sea level rise


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Bangladesh is projected to lose about 17% of its land area with

a sea level rise of one meter - very difficult to adapt due to lack

of adaptive capacity

projected

present


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Summary of Projected Climate Changes

Temperature to increase 3oC by 2050 and 5oC by 2070 over

land areas

Lower increases in temperature in maritime environments

Precipitation increases in high latitudes (temperate) but a

drying in mid-latitudes (sub-tropics) over Asia

Equatorial tropical zoneuncertain but little mean changeexpected

No increase in cyclone frequency but intensity could increase

by 10-20%

Accelerated melting of glaciers65% of Chinas glaciers will notexist by 2050 with current and projected warming trends

Modest sea level rise (c. 50cm)


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The thin layer on the surface of the Earth on

which the living beings of the earth survive since

it is the layer of materials in which plants have

their roots.

Soil provides us grains for our food,

cotton for our clothes and timber forour homes. It is one of the most

important resources for mankind


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The Lord infused His Light into the dust, and created the world

723 a


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Unfortunately

We know more of the celestial

bodies than the soil underfoot

Soil is the most important naturalresource on planet earth


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Soil Formation

It takes about 500 years for 1 inchof topsoil to form.

Soil is formed as rocks are

weathered and covered with

organic material.


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The simple maths behind Soil Carbon

One hectare = 10,000 sq. metres

Soil 33.5 cm deep (1 foot approx)

Bulk density = 1.4 tonnes per cubic metre Soil mass per hectare = about 4,700 tonnes

1% change in soil organic matter = 47 tonnes

Which gives about 27 tonnes Soil Carbon This captured 100 tonnes of atmospheric CO2


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Are agricultural soils the answer to climate change ?

CAPACITY: Soil organic carbon is the largest

reservoir in interaction with the atmosphere

Vegetation 650 gigatons,Atmosphere 750 gigatons,

Soil 1500 gigatons

COST EFFECTIVE: Enhancing the naturalprocesses that remove CO2from theatmosphere is thought to be the most cost-

effective means of reducing atmospheric levelsof CO2


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Soil is a part of the solution for climate change

Soil plays a pivotal role in global carbon and nitrogencycles.

The amount of carbon stored in soil organic matter isnearly 2.5 times higher than that in the above groundbiomass and around 2 times as high as in the

atmosphere Thus even small changes in soil organic carbon content

can have great impact on carbon dioxide (CO2)concentrations in the atmosphere.

The maintenance of existing carbon reservoirs is amongthe highest priorities in striving for climate changemitigation.


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SOILS ARE THE ONLY SOLUTION THAT

OFFERS SHORT TERM IMPACT ONGLOBAL WARMING

Only soils can sequester significantamounts of atmospheric Carbon in thenext 30 years. Every other solution will

take 30 years to start shiftingmeaningful volumes

l b b f l


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Soil may not be beautiful

but it does beautiful things

Upon this handful of soil our survival depends. Husband it and it

will grow our food, our fuel, and our shelter and surround us with

beauty. Abuse it and the soil will collapse and die, taking humanity

with it

from Vedas the Sanskrit Scripture 1500 BC

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Climate Change and Soil