Soil carbon sponge (or soil sponge) is

porous Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void (i.e. "empty") spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0 and 1, or as a percentage between 0% and 100%. Strictly speaking, some tests measure ...

, well-aggregated soil in good

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

, better able to absorb and retain water. Australian

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Ancient Greek, Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of Microorganism, microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, f ...

and

climatologist Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , ''-logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. This modern field of study ...

, Walter Jehne, articulated the concept of the soil carbon sponge in his 2017 paper, Regenerate Earth, connecting

soil carbon Soil carbon is the solid carbon stored in global soils. This includes both soil organic matter and inorganic carbon as carbonate minerals. Soil carbon is a carbon sink in regard to the global carbon cycle, playing a role in biogeochemistry, clima ...

with a restored

water cycle The water cycle, also known as the hydrologic cycle or the hydrological cycle, is a biogeochemical cycle that describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. The mass of water on Earth remains fairly cons ...

able induce planetary cooling through evaporative cooling and higher reflectance of denser green vegetation. Cooling from increased cloud formation is another benefit of

soil regeneration Soil regeneration, as a particular form of ecological regeneration within the field of restoration ecology, is creating new soil and rejuvenating soil health by: minimizing the loss of topsoil, retaining more carbon than is depleted, boosting biodi ...

anticipated by Jehne. A soil carbon sponge has densities much lighter (1 gram/cc) as compared to the parent

mineral soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former ter ...

(2.6–3.5 grams/cc).

Intensive farming Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of crop plants and of animals, with higher levels of input and output per unit of ag ...

practices that leave bare soils, cultivate extensively, apply water needy

fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

s and

biocide A biocide is defined in the European legislation as a chemical substance or microorganism intended to destroy, deter, render harmless, or exert a controlling effect on any harmful organism. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses a slig ...

s and extensive irrigation have accelerated the

oxidation Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a d ...

of soil carbon as . These oxidative practices reduce the depth and function of soil carbon sponges. Soil carbon sponges can be negatively affected by fire and flooding.

Global scale

It has been postulated that improved performance of soil carbon sponges at a global scale, could affect the earth's climate mainly through

ecohydrology Ecohydrology (from Greek , ''oikos'', "house(hold)"; , ''hydōr'', "water"; and , '' -logia'') is an interdisciplinary scientific field studying the interactions between water and ecological systems. It is considered a sub discipline of hydrology, ...

. Soil carbon sponges also serve as

carbon sink A carbon sink is anything, natural or otherwise, that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period and thereby removes carbon dioxide () from the atmosphere. Globally, the two most important carbon si ...

Afforestation Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees (forestation) in an area where there was no previous tree cover. Many government and non-governmental organizations directly engage in afforestation programs to create forests a ...

reforestation Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting. Management A debate ...

and cover cropping are methods to build and improve soil carbon sponges. Afforestation provides environmental benefits, including increasing the soil quality and organic carbon levels in the soil, avoiding

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

and

desertification Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by ...

. Observational evidence, that the southern

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

triggers its own rainy season using water vapor from plant leaves, which then forms clouds above it has been reported. Airborne bacteria released from the plant leaves may seed these clouds, which result in rain droplet formations. These findings may explain why

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

affects the soil carbon sponge and links it to reduced rainfall.

References

{{Cite journal, author1=Wright, Jonathon S. , author2=Fu, Rong , author3=Worden, John R. , author4=Chakraborty, Sudip , author5=Clinton, Nicholas E. , author6=Risi, Camille , author7=Sun, Ying Sun , author8=Yin , author9=Lei , title=Rainforest-initiated wet season onset , work=

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of Sci ...

, date=August 2017 , volume=114 (32) , page=8481–8486 , doi=10.1073/pnas.1621516114 Carbon Soil science

Global scale

See also

References