Download - 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