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Friday, November 29, 2019

Sequestering Carbon in Soils

There is increasing emphasis on identifying strategies that will reduce the rate of enrichment of atmospheric CO2 by offsetting emissions caused by humans.

Major human caused sources of increasing CO2 equivalent emissions include the combustion of fossil fuel, cement manufacturing, deforestation and the burning of biomass, and land-use conversion including drainage of peatlands, soil tillage, animal husbandry.

We need to reduce CO2 , Methane  and Nitrous Oxide emissions and offset emissions through sequestration of carbon in soils and other terrestrial and inland aquatic ecosystems.

Land-use change, deforestation and soil cultivation have added CO2 equal to nearly 50 % of that caused by fossil fuel burning. Current rates of these activities are equal to 20 % of the emissions caused by fossil fuel burning. 

The Earth's natural systems, other than oceans and atmosphere, absorb over a third of the greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans every year. However the nearly two-thirds of the emitted carbon is added to the atmosphere and oceans every year and is fast pushing earth into a hot house state. 

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