Looking to the Earth Itself as a Climate Solution

Farmers, by using techniques that help preserve soil
carbon, could make a contribution
 to reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions. 

As President Obama scrambles to seal his climate legacy before he leaves office, his administration is taking a serious look downward—at soil.

The administration is intent on developing its plan to meet the emissions reductions goals it agreed to in last year's Paris climate accord, and that plan will likely outline how farmland, with its huge potential to sequester carbon, will play a key role.

"Attention to soil health is gaining momentum out of frustration with our inability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions at an economy-wide scale," said Thomas Driscoll, director of conservation policy and education for the National Farmers Union, the country's second-largest farm industry group. "People are starting to pay attention to farming and land-use because they're having so much trouble everywhere else."

The world's cropland has the potential to store 20 billion tons of carbon on about 4 billion acres over a 25-year period. That is enough to offset as much as 15 percent of carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning each year. France recently launched an international initiative to boost the organic carbon in soil by 4 parts per thousand, which it says is enough to offset annual increases in overall carbon emissions.

Read Georgina Austin’s story on Inside Climate News - “Looking to the Earth Itself as a Climate Solution.”