Soil May Release Less CO2 Than Expected

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Soil May Release Less CO2 Than Expected

Nov. 17, 2008 -- As the climate warms, soils may not release as much carbon dioxide as predictions have suggested, according to a new study of Australian soils.

Dirt releases the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide when microbes in the soil digest organic matter from things like decaying plants. As temperatures warm, the microbes eat faster, releasing more CO2. This contribution is a big deal; the amount of CO2 released from soils worldwide each year is at least 10 times greater than the amount spewed by humans.

Hrmm... another variable in Global Warming models that turns out to be wrong...

[TitsMcGee]

Don't tell that to Al Gore, he'd slap you in your face.

[Simon Bar Sinister]

melting permafrost releases methane, which is far more dangerous than CO2...and unfortunately, the arctic permafrost is thawing far more than expected.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

You should read the current studies. You are going off old data.

Arctic Permafrost May Not Hasten Global Warming, Study Says

In theory, vast quantities of frozen methane in permafrost could potentially hydrate, releasing even more carbon than is freed by today's burning of fossil fuels. There is as much as 950 billion tons of carbon stored in the soil's organic matter, much of it long-dead vegetation.

That concern is tempered by the recent study, which ``highlights the resilience of permafrost to past warmer climate,'' Froese and colleagues wrote in the Science preview of the study to published this week. The findings suggest ``that permafrost and associated carbon reservoirs that are more than a few meters below the surface may be more stable than previously thought.''