Challenging claimed benefits of soil carbon sequestration for mitigating climate change and increasing crop yields: Heresy or sober realism?
D. S. Powlson, Marcelo Valadares Galdos
Abstract
This is a commentary on the paper in GCB by Moinet et al. (2023) entitled “Carbon for soils, not soils for carbon”. The paper challenges two claims often made for soil carbon sequestration: (1) Sequestration of C in agricultural soils can make a substantial contribution to climate change mitigation. (2) Increasing SOC will routinely lead to increased crop yields and contribute to global food security.
Topics & Concepts
Carbon sequestrationEnvironmental scienceSoil carbonSoil waterClimate change mitigationClimate changeFood securityAgricultureCarbon fibersAgroforestryNatural resource economicsSoil scienceCarbon dioxideEcologyEconomicsComputer scienceAlgorithmBiologyComposite numberSoil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics