Study Finds British Soil Losing Carbon

If true the effect should be the same in France which has been
heating up at twice the global warming rate. Siberia has been
warming up particularly (3°C in 40 years
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/...mg18725124.500) but
the worry there is the release of methane, another greenhouse
gas). Canada has a general warming (south Canada, 0.9°C) which
is nearly twice the global average). So all these areas should
exhibit carbon loss too.

*****

Study Finds British Soil Losing Carbon

By MICHAEL McDONOUGH, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 7, 8:35 PM ET

Rising temperatures resulting from climate change are likely causing soil in
England and Wales to lose large amounts of carbon, possibly further
contributing to the greenhouse gas effect, according to a new British study
which suggests the same trend could be affecting other countries.

Soils store vast amounts of carbon ‹ more than twice as much as in
vegetation or the atmosphere. The amount of carbon in the soil is constant
if the amount entering from dead vegetation ‹ wood, leaves and roots ‹ is
equal to the amount being lost as soil microbes decompose the vegetation,
releasing carbon dioxide.

But research published Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature found a
disturbance in this natural balance. It estimated that British soil is
losing 13 million tons of carbon a year ‹ equivalent to 8.2 percent of
Britain's carbon dioxide emissions in 2004.

Many scientists believe that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide trap
energy in the atmosphere, leading to an increase in global temperatures and
changes in climate and weather patterns.

The study, funded by the British government, found that the carbon losses
affected all types of soil.

"The fact that the losses appear to be happening ... irrespective of land
use suggests a link to climate change," the report said, adding that over
the 25-year survey period the mean temperature in England and Wales had
risen by 0.5 C (0.9 F).

"Microbes in the soil are more active at warmer temperatures. As
temperatures rise, the turnover of soil carbon goes up," said report
co-author Guy Kirk from the National Soil Resources Institute at Cranfield
University north of London. Four of the team members came from the NSRI, and
the fifth was from Rothamsted Research, a British agricultural research
center.

Their study suggested that while the increased global growth in vegetation
is absorbing some of the carbon dioxide released by human activity, this is
being offset by the loss of carbon from the soil.

"The input side is going up because of carbon dioxide emissions, but the
output is going up because of temperature rises," Kirk told The Associated
Press in a phone interview.

"The rate of loss is exceeding the rate of input. Past predictions had said
this would happen in 10 to 50 years' time, but this study shows it is
happening much faster. It is happening already in England and Wales," he
said.

In a commentary published in Nature, E. Detlef Schulze and Annette Freibauer
of the Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry questioned whether global
warming was the reason.

"According to our current understanding of the sensitivity of soil
respiration to warming, increased temperature alone seems to be too weak a
driver," they wrote, adding that changes in rainfall may have a stronger
effect on carbon-rich soils.

The British government-funded study was based on research that began 25
years ago. Scientists drew 5,662 soil samples from 6,000 sites across
England and Wales between 1978 and 1983. The sites corresponded to the
intersection points of a grid of 5-kilometer by 5-kilometer (3-mile by
3-mile) covering both countries. Some 340 of the sites ‹ including urban
areas and waterways ‹ were unsuitable for taking soil samples.

About 40 percent of the sites were sampled again in later years. The
resampling occurred in three phases: in 1994-95 for arable and rotational
grassland sites; in 1995-96 for managed permanent grassland sites; and in
2003 for nonagricultural sites, including bogs, scrub and woodland.

The researchers said this was "the only soil inventory on such a scale
anywhere in the world to have been resampled." Statistical projections
showed that only 40 percent of the original sites needed to be resampled to
accurately measure changes, Kirk said.

The study found that the overall annual rate of change in the upper 15
centimeters (6 inches) of soil was -0.64 percent a year, compared with the
original carbon content. For types of soil containing more carbon, this rate
increased, reaching a rate of -7.37 percent a year for those sites richest
in carbon.

The researchers estimated that the annual loss from soil across the United
Kingdom ‹ including Scotland and Northern Ireland ‹ was 13 million tons of
carbon per year. In 2004, carbon dioxide emissions in the United Kingdom
reached 158.4 million tons, measured in carbon equivalent, according to
Britain's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Britain has set a target of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent
below 1990 levels by 2010. But in 2003, carbon dioxide emissions rose 2.2
percent.

_

I wonder if they figured in the effect of concentrating the additions in
trash dumps. This could change the distribution but not the total load.
We certainly have changed the distribution of dead vegetation joining
the ecology.

Earl Evleth wrote:

If true the effect should be the same in France which has been
heating up at twice the global warming rate. Siberia has been
warming up particularly (3°C in 40 years
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/...mg18725124.500) but
the worry there is the release of methane, another greenhouse
gas). Canada has a general warming (south Canada, 0.9°C) which
is nearly twice the global average). So all these areas should
exhibit carbon loss too.

*****

Study Finds British Soil Losing Carbon

By MICHAEL McDONOUGH, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 7, 8:35 PM ET

Rising temperatures resulting from climate change are likely causing soil in
England and Wales to lose large amounts of carbon, possibly further
contributing to the greenhouse gas effect, according to a new British study
which suggests the same trend could be affecting other countries.

Soils store vast amounts of carbon ‹ more than twice as much as in
vegetation or the atmosphere. The amount of carbon in the soil is constant
if the amount entering from dead vegetation ‹ wood, leaves and roots ‹ is
equal to the amount being lost as soil microbes decompose the vegetation,
releasing carbon dioxide.

But research published Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature found a
disturbance in this natural balance. It estimated that British soil is
losing 13 million tons of carbon a year ‹ equivalent to 8.2 percent of
Britain's carbon dioxide emissions in 2004.

Many scientists believe that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide trap
energy in the atmosphere, leading to an increase in global temperatures and
changes in climate and weather patterns.

The study, funded by the British government, found that the carbon losses
affected all types of soil.

"The fact that the losses appear to be happening ... irrespective of land
use suggests a link to climate change," the report said, adding that over
the 25-year survey period the mean temperature in England and Wales had
risen by 0.5 C (0.9 F).

"Microbes in the soil are more active at warmer temperatures. As
temperatures rise, the turnover of soil carbon goes up," said report
co-author Guy Kirk from the National Soil Resources Institute at Cranfield
University north of London. Four of the team members came from the NSRI, and
the fifth was from Rothamsted Research, a British agricultural research
center.

Their study suggested that while the increased global growth in vegetation
is absorbing some of the carbon dioxide released by human activity, this is
being offset by the loss of carbon from the soil.

"The input side is going up because of carbon dioxide emissions, but the
output is going up because of temperature rises," Kirk told The Associated
Press in a phone interview.

"The rate of loss is exceeding the rate of input. Past predictions had said
this would happen in 10 to 50 years' time, but this study shows it is
happening much faster. It is happening already in England and Wales," he
said.

In a commentary published in Nature, E. Detlef Schulze and Annette Freibauer
of the Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry questioned whether global
warming was the reason.

"According to our current understanding of the sensitivity of soil
respiration to warming, increased temperature alone seems to be too weak a
driver," they wrote, adding that changes in rainfall may have a stronger
effect on carbon-rich soils.

The British government-funded study was based on research that began 25
years ago. Scientists drew 5,662 soil samples from 6,000 sites across
England and Wales between 1978 and 1983. The sites corresponded to the
intersection points of a grid of 5-kilometer by 5-kilometer (3-mile by
3-mile) covering both countries. Some 340 of the sites ‹ including urban
areas and waterways ‹ were unsuitable for taking soil samples.

About 40 percent of the sites were sampled again in later years. The
resampling occurred in three phases: in 1994-95 for arable and rotational
grassland sites; in 1995-96 for managed permanent grassland sites; and in
2003 for nonagricultural sites, including bogs, scrub and woodland.

The researchers said this was "the only soil inventory on such a scale
anywhere in the world to have been resampled." Statistical projections
showed that only 40 percent of the original sites needed to be resampled to
accurately measure changes, Kirk said.

The study found that the overall annual rate of change in the upper 15
centimeters (6 inches) of soil was -0.64 percent a year, compared with the
original carbon content. For types of soil containing more carbon, this rate
increased, reaching a rate of -7.37 percent a year for those sites richest
in carbon.

The researchers estimated that the annual loss from soil across the United
Kingdom ‹ including Scotland and Northern Ireland ‹ was 13 million tons of
carbon per year. In 2004, carbon dioxide emissions in the United Kingdom
reached 158.4 million tons, measured in carbon equivalent, according to
Britain's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Britain has set a target of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent
below 1990 levels by 2010. But in 2003, carbon dioxide emissions rose 2.2
percent.

_

On 8/09/05 18:28, in article ,
"Frank F. Matthews" wrote:

I wonder if they figured in the effect of concentrating the additions in
trash dumps. This could change the distribution but not the total load.
We certainly have changed the distribution of dead vegetation joining
the ecology.


I don't think that makes a big difference. I dug up the figures once and
came up with this

"On land, the terrestrial biosphere has 450 gigatons while the dead
organic matter is larger, at 700. *CO2 is released by bacterial
action from the dead matter. *When we try to promote "our forests"
as the solution to the CO2 removal problem we forget
about the fact that CO2 is released at about the same rate
as absorbed. *We are engaging in "creative accounting" when
we stress only the CO2 uptake by the forests. *The entire system
is dynamic, CO2 moving both ways.

Finally, the atmosphere has some 690 giga tons of CO2. "

I posted this in 2003 and cited

The www.geo.cornell.edu/geology/Geo101/

as the source of the information. As the source, but that site does not
exist anymore.

The probable release of CO2 from a warming Tundra has been mentioned in
the past. But the English study is the first one I know of which is
broad.

I should also note that the CO2 accumulating in the atmosphere seems to
be accelerating

see

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news...-buildup_x.htm

"CO2 buildup accelerating in atmosphere"

here we go with the crap again

"Earl Evleth" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
If true the effect should be the same in France which has been
heating up at twice the global warming rate. Siberia has been
warming up particularly (3°C in 40 years
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/...mg18725124.500) but
the worry there is the release of methane, another greenhouse
gas). Canada has a general warming (south Canada, 0.9°C) which
is nearly twice the global average). So all these areas should
exhibit carbon loss too.

*****

Study Finds British Soil Losing Carbon

By MICHAEL McDONOUGH, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 7, 8:35 PM ET

Rising temperatures resulting from climate change are likely causing soil
in
England and Wales to lose large amounts of carbon, possibly further
contributing to the greenhouse gas effect, according to a new British
study
which suggests the same trend could be affecting other countries.

Soils store vast amounts of carbon more than twice as much as in
vegetation or the atmosphere. The amount of carbon in the soil is constant
if the amount entering from dead vegetation wood, leaves and roots is
equal to the amount being lost as soil microbes decompose the vegetation,
releasing carbon dioxide.

But research published Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature found a
disturbance in this natural balance. It estimated that British soil is
losing 13 million tons of carbon a year equivalent to 8.2 percent of
Britain's carbon dioxide emissions in 2004.

Many scientists believe that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide trap
energy in the atmosphere, leading to an increase in global temperatures
and
changes in climate and weather patterns.

The study, funded by the British government, found that the carbon losses
affected all types of soil.

"The fact that the losses appear to be happening ... irrespective of land
use suggests a link to climate change," the report said, adding that over
the 25-year survey period the mean temperature in England and Wales had
risen by 0.5 C (0.9 F).

"Microbes in the soil are more active at warmer temperatures. As
temperatures rise, the turnover of soil carbon goes up," said report
co-author Guy Kirk from the National Soil Resources Institute at Cranfield
University north of London. Four of the team members came from the NSRI,
and
the fifth was from Rothamsted Research, a British agricultural research
center.

Their study suggested that while the increased global growth in vegetation
is absorbing some of the carbon dioxide released by human activity, this
is
being offset by the loss of carbon from the soil.

"The input side is going up because of carbon dioxide emissions, but the
output is going up because of temperature rises," Kirk told The Associated
Press in a phone interview.

"The rate of loss is exceeding the rate of input. Past predictions had
said
this would happen in 10 to 50 years' time, but this study shows it is
happening much faster. It is happening already in England and Wales," he
said.

In a commentary published in Nature, E. Detlef Schulze and Annette
Freibauer
of the Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry questioned whether global
warming was the reason.

"According to our current understanding of the sensitivity of soil
respiration to warming, increased temperature alone seems to be too weak a
driver," they wrote, adding that changes in rainfall may have a stronger
effect on carbon-rich soils.

The British government-funded study was based on research that began 25
years ago. Scientists drew 5,662 soil samples from 6,000 sites across
England and Wales between 1978 and 1983. The sites corresponded to the
intersection points of a grid of 5-kilometer by 5-kilometer (3-mile by
3-mile) covering both countries. Some 340 of the sites including urban
areas and waterways were unsuitable for taking soil samples.

About 40 percent of the sites were sampled again in later years. The
resampling occurred in three phases: in 1994-95 for arable and rotational
grassland sites; in 1995-96 for managed permanent grassland sites; and in
2003 for nonagricultural sites, including bogs, scrub and woodland.

The researchers said this was "the only soil inventory on such a scale
anywhere in the world to have been resampled." Statistical projections
showed that only 40 percent of the original sites needed to be resampled
to
accurately measure changes, Kirk said.

The study found that the overall annual rate of change in the upper 15
centimeters (6 inches) of soil was -0.64 percent a year, compared with the
original carbon content. For types of soil containing more carbon, this
rate
increased, reaching a rate of -7.37 percent a year for those sites richest
in carbon.

The researchers estimated that the annual loss from soil across the United
Kingdom including Scotland and Northern Ireland was 13 million tons of
carbon per year. In 2004, carbon dioxide emissions in the United Kingdom
reached 158.4 million tons, measured in carbon equivalent, according to
Britain's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Britain has set a target of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent
below 1990 levels by 2010. But in 2003, carbon dioxide emissions rose 2.2
percent.

_