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The Massive Carbon Storage Potential Beneath Our Feet
Soil holds more carbon than the atmosphere and all vegetation combined, making it one of our most powerful climate allies. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recently released a map showing that the world’s soils contain vast amounts of carbon, with estimates suggesting soils hold more carbon than the atmosphere and vegetation combined. After oceans, soil is the second largest natural carbon sink, surpassing forests and other vegetation in its capacity to capture carbon dioxide from air. This hidden carbon reservoir represents an enormous opportunity for climate mitigation that we’ve barely tapped into.
Scientists are discovering that soils can sequester the equivalent of around 10% of manufactured carbon emissions over 25 years. Recent research suggests even greater potential, with estimates ranging from half of annual global CO2 emissions on a conservative basis to estimates that our soils could potentially sequester more CO2 than we currently emit annually. This incredible storage capacity makes healthy soil our most underestimated weapon against climate change.
The Alarming Rate of Global Soil Degradation
A total of 33% of all soils are moderately to highly degraded as a result of erosion, loss of organic matter, poor nutrient balance, salinization and alkalinization, contamination, acidification, loss of biodiversity, sealing, compaction, and poor water status. This means roughly one-third of our planet’s soil is already compromised and losing its ability to support both agriculture and climate resilience. The speed of soil loss is staggering – it takes 1,000 years to create just a half a centimetre of healthy soil, with some studies estimating we are currently losing soil 50-100 times faster than it can recover.
New projections paint an even grimmer picture. By 2050, the global population will have ballooned to 9.7 billion while soil degradation continues accelerating. Degraded soil, resulting largely from intensive farming practices, is low in “organic matter,” which means it does not retain water as effectively, making us vulnerable to climate shocks such as droughts, wildfires, and water shortages. Without immediate action, we’re heading toward a perfect storm of food insecurity and climate vulnerability.
How Climate Change Creates Dangerous Feedback Loops in Soil
Climate change may have an effect on soil health through temperature changes, salinity, hydrology, and the availability of organic matter. Rising temperatures accelerate the decomposition of soil organic matter, releasing stored carbon back into the atmosphere and creating a vicious cycle. Changes in the quantity of carbon stored in the soil can affect the global carbon cycle and alter carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Thus, decreases in soil carbon may raise greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, thus contributing to climate change.
The impacts compound each other in dangerous ways. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of heavy precipitation in the United States, which can harm crops by eroding soil and depleting soil nutrients. Meanwhile, degraded soils exacerbate the gap between crops’ current and potential yields, indirectly encourage deforestation by pushing farmers to expand farmland, and reduce the earth’s natural capacity to sequester carbon. This creates a cascading effect where soil degradation accelerates climate change, which in turn degrades soil even faster.
Soil’s Critical Role in Water Management and Drought Prevention
Healthy soils act like massive sponges, storing water during wet periods and slowly releasing it during dry spells. Healthy land and soil can absorb and store excess water and alleviate floods, while parks and other natural areas in cities can also help with cooling down during heat waves, partly because of the water present in their soil. This water-holding capacity becomes increasingly crucial as climate change brings more extreme weather patterns with both intense flooding and prolonged droughts.
The contrast between healthy and degraded soil is dramatic when it comes to water management. Soils rich in organic matter can hold up to twenty times their weight in water, while degraded soils allow precious rainwater to run off rather than infiltrate. “Regenerative agriculture can help bring the organic matter, or the ‘life and health’ back into soil, reversing degradation, preventing droughts and saving lives on every continent”, according to soil conservation experts. This water retention capacity is essential for both agricultural productivity and climate adaptation.
The Underground Ecosystem That Powers Food Production
Soil microbiomes play key roles in plant productivity and nutrient cycling, and we need to understand whether and how they will withstand the effects of global climate change. The soil beneath our feet hosts an incredibly diverse community of bacteria, fungi, archaea, and other microorganisms that work together to break down organic matter, cycle nutrients, and support plant growth. The soil microbiome plays a pivotal role in the functioning and resilience of agricultural ecosystems, contributing to critical processes such as organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling, and plant growth promotion.
This invisible ecosystem faces unprecedented challenges from climate change. The soil microbiome is constantly challenged by various environmental stresses, including drought, heavy metal contamination, salinity, and climate change, which can significantly disrupt the delicate balance of the soil ecosystem. Recent studies show that fungal community composition strongly shifted due to drought and its legacy. In contrast, bacterial community composition resisted change during the experiment, but still was affected by the legacy of drought. Understanding and protecting these microbial communities is essential for maintaining soil health and agricultural productivity.
Regenerative Agriculture as a Climate Solution
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, enhancing soil carbon sequestration through regenerative agriculture could sequester up to 23 gigatons of carbon dioxide by 2050, a substantial portion of the mitigation required to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Regenerative practices like cover cropping, no-till farming, and diverse crop rotations can dramatically increase soil carbon storage while improving farm productivity. They can sequester 3 to 4 tons of CO2 per acre, while standard regenerative agriculture practices might yield 0.5 to 0.7 tons of CO2 per acre.
Healthy soils act as carbon sinks, capturing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Regenerative practices enhance soil organic matter and increase soil carbon sequestration. The beauty of regenerative agriculture lies in its multiple benefits – it simultaneously fights climate change, improves soil health, enhances biodiversity, and often increases crop yields. Regenerative agriculture also builds resilience to climate impacts by improving water retention, increasing biodiversity and creating healthier ecosystems.
The Economics of Soil Health and Climate Resilience
The economic case for investing in soil health is becoming increasingly compelling. According to the FAO, restoring currently degraded soils could remove up to 63 billion tonnes of carbon, which would offset a small but important share of global greenhouse gas emissions. This carbon sequestration potential represents billions of dollars in potential carbon credit value, creating new income streams for farmers who adopt soil-healthy practices.
Regenerative agriculture can lead to higher crop yields through improved soil fertility and health. Practices such as having diverse crop rotations and cover cropping enrich the soil, making it more productive and capable of supporting diverse crops. While transitioning to regenerative practices may require initial investment, reducing the need for chemical inputs, regenerative agriculture can lead to significant cost savings for farmers. The long-term economic benefits include reduced input costs, improved yields, and increased resilience to climate shocks.
Precision Agriculture and Technology-Enhanced Soil Management
Ultimately, delivering on this spike in demand will require the introduction of precision agriculture to apply the right source of fertilizers as and where needed, in the exact volumes required. Modern technology is revolutionizing how we understand and manage soil health, with sensors, satellite imagery, and AI helping farmers make precise decisions about nutrient application, irrigation, and soil management. Recent research indicates that the potential for storing carbon in soil is greater than previously believed, with the potential to sequester 5 gigatons of CO2 annually until 2050.
Next-generation soil carbon technologies are emerging that go beyond traditional farming practices. Unlike the familiar regenerative farming practices, these additives supercharge biological and chemical processes that naturally occur in the soil, thereby enabling superior carbon removal as well as a range of other benefits (such as improved crop yields, water and nutrient uptake, crop resilience, and improved biodiversity). These innovations include enhanced rock weathering, biochar, and microbial inoculants that can dramatically accelerate soil carbon sequestration while improving agricultural productivity.
Global Policy and International Cooperation on Soil Health
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, speaking at the Annual Meeting 2024 in Davos, described soil as being “at the root of many pressing national security challenges”, noting that if you “get the soil right, then you have your agricultural foundation for the future”. This high-level political recognition of soil’s importance is driving new international initiatives and policies focused on soil health and climate resilience.
At the 2024 African Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit, delegates from across the continent committed to “building soil health and regenerating degraded soils” to enable a “sustainable food systems transformation”. The summit culminated with the signature of the Nairobi declaration – which committed signatories to tripling domestic production and distribution of certified quality fertilizers by 2034. Meanwhile, the 4per1000 initiative, launched by the French government with 48 national and subnational members, provides technical support to aid countries in setting Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Climate Agreement, including agricultural climate solutions.
The Future of Soil-Based Climate Solutions
Key discussions focused on developing and rigorously evaluating innovative soil microbiome-based interventions that can enhance soil carbon sequestration to reduce atmospheric CO2 levels. The workshop called for establishing soil health metrics, incentivizing best practices, and recruiting soil advocates to ensure sustainable food production and environmental conservation. Scientists are working on revolutionary approaches that could dramatically increase soil’s climate impact.
The potential for soil microbiome interventions represents a frontier in climate solutions. Soil microorganisms are potent actors in climate-relevant processes via their influence on soil carbon turnover and sequestration, along with their consumption and production of greenhouse gasses. Leveraging soil microbial activities to increase soil carbon stocks may thus be a promising strategy, but it is not one without challenges. As we advance our understanding of soil ecosystems and develop new technologies, the potential for soil-based climate solutions will only continue to grow.
Building Resilience Through Soil Restoration
Despite the uncertainties, restoring ecosystems and improving soil quality could be a very cost-efficient measure in terms of climate action with a triple impact. First, growing plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. According to the FAO, restoring currently degraded soils could remove up to 63 billion tonnes of carbon, which would offset a small but important share of global greenhouse gas emissions. This restoration approach offers immediate benefits while building long-term resilience.
Given the mounting environmental challenges posed by climate change, soil degradation, and loss of biodiversity, the potential for microbiome-based solutions has never been more critical. Nevertheless, despite the significant progress made in understanding microbial contributions to soil health, several key knowledge gaps remain, particularly regarding the long-term impact of synthetic microbial consortia on soil health and the integration of microbial engineering with conventional agricultural practices. The path forward requires coordinated global action, continued research investment, and widespread adoption of soil-healthy practices across all agricultural systems.
The evidence is overwhelming – healthy soil represents one of our most powerful tools for climate resilience and sustainable food production. From its massive carbon storage capacity to its role in water management and ecosystem health, soil touches every aspect of climate adaptation and mitigation. The question isn’t whether we need to prioritize soil health, but how quickly we can mobilize the resources and political will to restore and protect this fundamental foundation of life on Earth.
