Â鶹ÒùÔº

Skip to main content

Carbon sequestration through soil health

hand digging in soil

By now, you’ve probably heard about the detrimental effects of climate change, resulting fromÌýtheÌýÌýbeing released into our atmosphere. Our society currently depends on the burning of fossil fuels forÌý, andÌý could be an important factor in the future of our climate.Ìý

  • Human activity hasÌýÌýsince the Industrial Age.
  • Carbon enters the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned.
  • Carbon is also released into the atmosphere through a process called tilling, where the soil is ripped up in order to plant seeds.Ìý
  • It's estimatedÌýthat soils haveÌý.

  • Sequestration is the process in which CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and stored in the ground.
  • It's stored in plant roots, plant residuesÌýand other organic solids.
  • ´¡²ú´Ç³Ü³ÙÌý, farmsÌýand grasslands.

  • Healthy soil can absorb more water before becoming saturated, making it more resilient in drier years.
  • Higher quality soil will reduce runoff from croplands.
  • Healthy soil can produce more food for a growing population.

´¡²ú´Ç³Ü³ÙÌýÌýof all of the land in the U.S. is used for farming.

  • : Using new tilling processes on farmlands such as no-tilling (leaving the soil undisturbed between seasons), in-row subsoiling (soil surface and residue are undisturbed except for strips up to one-third of the row width where deep-tillage technologies loosen this soil), strip-till (tilling in strips only where some plants are being planted), etc. will better protect the soil.
  • : Cover cropping describes plants that are utilized to slow erosion and increase biodiversity in farms but are not sold for profit.ÌýÌýof the desired crop.
  • : Crop rotation is when farmers plantÌýdifferent crops after each yield on the same plot of land in order to optimize nutrients in the soil. For example, a farmer may plant corn on a plot of land one year and beans on the same land the next year.

  • °ä´Ç³¾±è´Ç²õ³Ù:Ìý.
  • Buy organic food:ÌýÌýand support organic farming. Organic farming dramatically helpsÌý.
  • Check out this website for based on your interests and lifestyle.
  • Check out theÌýÌýon Netflix for more info and inspiration on why global regeneration starts with soil health.