Climate Week Reflections from Soil4Climate CEO Seth Itzcan
From Soil4Climate:
How are Soils Key to Climate Stability?
Soils are the largest terrestrial carbon reservoir (2,500 Billion Tons C)
Soils of the world (known in academic parlance as the "pedosphere" or "the soil mantle of the Earth") are the largest reservoir of terrestrial carbon (on the surface of the earth, not to be confused with "fossil carbon" deep underground - i.e. coal, oil, natural gas, etc.). They therefore play an essential role in climate regulation by both sequestering and releasing carbon from and to the atmosphere through natural processes.
According to esteemed soil science scholar, Dr. Rattan Lal of Ohio State University, "Soils of the world constitute the largest reservoir of terrestrial carbon (C) stocks. They comprise both soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil inorganic carbon (SIC), and are an important component of the global C cycle. Estimated to 1 m depth, terrestrial soil (2500 PgC; 1 PgC = petagram of carbon = 1 billion metric tons of carbon) and vegetation (620 PgC) hold three times more C than that in the atmosphere (880 PgC)." (Lal 2021. See featured publication below).
Soil Restoration is Essential for Climate and Food Security
22-29 September 2024: Delegates gathered for New York Climate Week to discuss the way forward for mitigating and adapting to the climate crisis.
Soil4Climate CEO Seth Itzcan shares his reflections in a 6-minute video on the organization’s Facebook:
