Carbon soil sequestration: how are agricultural methods, education and awareness contributing to reducing climate change within the UK?
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EXTENDED PROJECT:
Carbon soil sequestration: how are agricultural methods, education and awareness contributing to reducing climate change within the
UK?
CAROLINE LEWIS
Carbon soil sequestration: how are agricultural methods, education and awareness contributing to reducing climate change within the UK?
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CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………………………………………….….
2. WHY SHOULD SEQUESTRATION BE DONE?…………………………………..……………………
3. THE TWO MAIN TYPES OF SEQUESTRATION…………………………………..……………………
4. BIOCHAR……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
5. METHODS WITHIN AGRICULTURE i. ARABLE ………………………………………………………………………………..……….……………… ii. LIVESTOCK……………………………………………………………………………..………….……….….
6. PRIMARY RESEARCH i. THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN……………… ii. AWARENESS WITHIN AGRICULTURE………………………………………………………….……
7. WORKING WITH SOILS SPECIALIST………………………………………………………..………………
8. SOILS GROUP MEETINGS i. INTERVIEW WITH LOCAL FARMER…………………………………………………………………… ii. EMAIL INTERVIEW WITH SOILS GROUP MEMBER……………………………………….……
9. HOW IS SEQUESTRAION BEING ENCOURAGED i. SCHEMES TO PAY FARMERS FOR WHAT THEY SEQUESTER………………..…………… ii. RHS……………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………… 10. CONCLUSION
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….….
Carbon soil sequestration: how are agricultural methods, education and awareness contributing to reducing climate change within the UK?
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INTRODUCTION- ‘Soil carbon sequestration is a process in which CO2 is removed from the atmosphere and stored in the soil carbon pool. This process is primarily mediated by plants through photosynthesis, with carbon stored in the form of SOC (soil organic carbon)’1 Plant roots are a carbon sink and considering that 38% of world’s terrestrial surface cover is currently used for agriculture2, we therefore must find a way to harness the huge potential this land has for sequestering carbon from our atmospheres. The aim of this project is to ascertain the knowledge and awareness of carbon soil sequestration of the following groups: Primary school children through a weekly science club, led by myself and three other sixth form students. Gardeners, through the Royal Horticultural Society and other gardening clubs. Farmers and Young Farmers through regular soils meetings and questionnaires. Specialists in this field through my work experience and the soils group. The results of my surveys, interviews, meetings and work experience (primary data) together with the extensive research into the agricultural techniques that are currently being applied and are likely to contribute to improving carbon soil sequestration (Secondary data), should allow me to answer the question in my title. WHY SHOULD SEQUESTRATION BE DONE?
a. Reduce global warming: After carrying out a lot of research into global warming and climate change it became clear that carbon soil sequestration would play a large part in reduce carbon emissions in the future. Climate change needs to be slowed as it is causing the extinction of some animals. This is because as their habitats change they can’t adapt quick enough to their new environment, and therefore they’re no longer successful competitors. This was the case for the Golden Toad, last seen in 1989 in the Costa Rican cloud forest of Monteverde, as they suffered from an increasing number of dry days since the 1970’s. Climate change is also affecting the world’s largest, and most diverse ecosystem; The Great Barrier Reef. Rising sea temperatures, ocean acidification, sea level rise and storms are damaging this reef at an incredible rate, due to human caused (anthropogenic) climate change. I believe that it is therefore mankind’s duty to reverse or slow these effects.
1 http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/soil-carbon-storage-84223790 “Soil Carbon Storage | Learn Science At Scitable". Nature.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 17 June 2016. 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKBkgJoaIxQ "Biochar - The Future Of Sustainable Agriculture: Lauren Hale At Tedxucr". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 23 Sept. 2016.
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Soil carbon sequestration has been proven to reduce the amount carbon in the atmosphere significantly. This makes carbon sequestration a very important process as human activity continues to produce carbon dioxide in large quantities, this being 2006= 9.355 GtC, 2014= 9.795 GtC (GtC= 1 billions tonnes of carbon).3 This increase appears to be slowing very gradually, but in order to stop global warming much more needs to be done. If there is
another 1.4C increase in temperature it will be impossible to stop or slow climate change and reversing any change after this temperature is met, cannot be achieved. The decrease of carbon in the atmosphere will lead to less absorption of heat from the sun as CO2 is a greenhouse gas. This decrease in emissions may result in a reduction in climate change, and global temperature, therefore saving the Earth from sea level rise and extinction of species, as global warming is stopped. There's actually more carbon in our world soils than in all plants and the atmosphere put together. Due to modern agricultural methods,4 there has been a decrease of between 50 and 80 percent of the carbon that used to be present in the soil.
b. Farmers benefit:
Not only does carbon sequestration reduce the growing problem of the greenhouse effect, it also increases organic matter levels and soil health which in turn will aid future crops and their yields, as fertility increases. 5Farmers weekly (19 Aug 2016) quoted Scientific American: ‘Only 60 years of farming left if soil degradation continues.’ However, fortunately if more farmers begin to sequester carbon, they will see many benefits within their crops as soil health returns and time, fuel and labor will be saved as fewer machines are put over the soils. The benefits farmers and other groups, such as gardeners, will experience when sequestering carbon should be reason alone to carry out carbon soil sequestration methods. THE TWO MAIN TYPES OF SEQUESTRATION- The two main types of carbon sequestration are terrestrial and geologic.6 Terrestrial sequestration involves growing plants to capture CO2 from the atmosphere and then storing it as carbon in the stems and roots (known as sinks) of the plants as well as in the soil. In photosynthesis, plants take in CO2 and water and give off the oxygen (O2) to the atmosphere as a waste gas. The plants retain and use the carbon to live, grow and reproduce. When the plants in winter die or shed the leaves and fruits, part of the carbon from the plant is preserved (stored) in the soil. Terrestrial sequestration is a set of land management practices that maximizes the amount of carbon that remains stored in the soil and plant material for the long term. No-till farming, wetland management, rangeland management, and afforestation are some more examples of terrestrial sequestration practices that are already in use, and will be explored in more detail later. It is important to
3 https://www.co2.earth/global-co2-emissions User, Super. "Global Carbon Emissions". CO2.Earth. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Sept. 2016. 4 http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/AC836E/AC836E03.htm - "Forests And Climate
Change". Fao.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 7 Jan. 2017. 5 http://www.groundswellag.com/news/2016/8/15/farmers-weekly-no-tillage-gathers-speed-to-improve-soils-and-cut-costs-12th-august-2016 - Cherry, Alex and Alex Cherry. "Farmers
Weekly - No-Tillage Gathers Speed To Improve Soils And Cut Costs - 12Th August 2016". Groundswell. N.p., 2017. Web. 5 Jan. 2017. 6 https://www.undeerc.org/pcor/sequestration/whatissequestration.aspx - "What Is CO2
Sequestration | Plains CO2 Reduction Partnership". Undeerc.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.
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remember that terrestrial sequestration stores the carbon in CO2 as a solid in soil. If the soil is disturbed and the soil carbon comes in contact with oxygen in the air, the exposed carbon in the soil can combine with O2 to form CO2 gas and reenter the atmosphere, reducing the amount of carbon in storage. Geologic sequestration is putting CO2 into long-term storage in geologic zones deep underground. Carbon Storage is the practice of ‘capturing anthropogenic CO2 (carbon produced by humans) before it enters the atmosphere and injecting it into underground formations’. Once the CO2 is captured and compressed it is then transported in pipelines and is then injected underground. Once this had been done, it is then stored in ‘Deep underground rock formations. These formations are often a mile or more beneath the surface and consist of porous rock that have the ability to hold CO2. Overlying these formations are impermeable, non-porous layers of rock that trap the CO2 and prevent it from migrating upward’,7and therefore it can be stored long term.
There is one main problem with this effective storage and this is that it is not efficient as the use of pipes and the method of compressing and capturing is extremely expensive and requires expensive and new technology. For example 8 “the Saskatchewan plant’s CCS unit cost $800 million to build and consumes 21 percent of the coal plant’s power output in order to scrub out the carbon dioxide and compress it into a liquid for burial.” Therefore, something else need to be introduced to try and combat the issue of increasing CO2 in the atmosphere. Before geologic sequestration can be widely used, two issues need to be addressed: only a handful of specialized facilities like natural gas-processing plants, coal gasification plants and ethanol plants currently have processes that separate CO2 and make it available for geologic sequestration. Actions are under way now to develop economical methods of separating and capturing CO2 at other large-scale systems like power plants that produce relatively large quantities of anthropogenic CO2. Due to the expense and technical difficulties found when attempting to sequester carbon using geological methods, the main focus will be on the natural ways of storing carbon dioxide. This will be through advanced methods of agriculture, forestry, education and horticulture. Natural ways of storing carbon are far more important as they are more sustainable methods which do not require high amounts of energy to store carbon and return it to the earth. When sequestering carbon geologically large amounts of energy is used to actively capture, contain and the store carbon. I have also chosen to focus on agriculture as evidence points to it as one of the first instances of increase in green house gases. 10-14% 9 of these GHG come directly from soils and livestock. I therefore feel that farming should be targeted for carbon soil sequestration, as improved soil management can
7 https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ccs/ - “Carbon Dioxide Capture And Sequestration | Climate
Change | US EPA". Www3.epa.gov. N.p., 2017. Web. 4 Oct. 2016. 8 https://www.technologyreview.com/s/531531/carbon-sequestration-too-little-too-late/ - Talbot, David. "First Carbon Capture Projects Mask A Lack Of Progress". MIT Technology Review. N.p., 2017. Web. 4 Oct. 2016. 9 doi:10.1038/nature17174- Paustian, Keith et al. "Climate-Smart Soils". Nature 532.7597 (7th April 2016):
49-57. Web. 17 Feb. 2017.
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reduce the amount of emissions released and begin to sequester CO2 in the atmosphere by using plant growth. BIOCHAR- Biochar is a form of charcoal produced from plant matter and stored in the soil as a means of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere 10 Biochar is made by heating biomass in an oxygen depleted environment. Once this process, called pyrolysis- decomposition due to high temperature
(250C)- is completed the product is biochar. Biochar can be made from most types of dry biomass - including waste materials. Therefore, biochar production could be an enormous opportunity for 'Closed Loop' type resource management, with numerous valuable benefits. The ‘Closed Loop’ approach to resource recovery and waste management is based on controlling material inputs to maximise recycling and minimise waste to landfill whilst greatly reducing the environmental footprint. 11Normal biomass fuels are carbon neutral, however biochar is more sustainable and is carbon negative as is converts the biomass into stable carbon structure, and this results in a net reduction in CO2 in the atmosphere. This is because even after pyrolysis biochar sequesters (stores) 50% of source carbon,12 and thereafter can be spread onto fields to benefit the farmers. Increasing carbon means that more water can be held in the soil structure, and therefore less irrigation will be needed in the dry seasons in some arid countries. 13The normal carbon cycle returns nearly all carbon back to the atmosphere. However, with biochar 50% is used as renewable energy production and the rest is sequestered as biochar. A study in 14America was done and it has been found that with a 1% added biochar in potted cucumber plant soils has lead to a 90% increase in growth/ larger cucumbers. This shows that the benefits seen by this fertile material may be desired in the future in food production, for higher yields in crops.
10http://www.biochar.ac.uk/what_is_biochar.php - "UK Biochar Research Centre | What Is
Biochar?". Biochar.ac.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 6 Nov. 2016.
11http://www.biochar-international.org/biochar/carbon - UK Biochar Research Centre | What Is
Biochar?". Biochar.ac.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 6 Nov. 2016. 12https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKBkgJoaIxQ - "Biochar - The Future Of Sustainable
Agriculture: Lauren Hale At Tedxucr". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 22 Oct. 2016. 13 http://albertabiochar.ca/biochar/ - Alberta Biochar N.p., 2017. Web. 26 Feb. 2017. 14 http://biochar-us.org/go-deeper - "Go Deeper | US Biochar Initiative". Biochar-us.org. N.p., 2017.
Web. 6 Nov. 2016.
Figure 1
Carbon soil sequestration: how are agricultural methods, education and awareness contributing to reducing climate change within the UK?
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Figure 1 shows avoided emissions when applying biochar method production annually and biomass combustion over 100 years. Three circumstances are displayed, all showing different degrees of demands on global biomass resources (red=maximum sustainable technical potential (MSTP); blue=medium; black=low). Sustainable biochar is represented by solid lines; biomass combustion by dashed lines. The top panel shows annual avoided emissions; the bottom panel, cumulative avoided emissions over 100 years. In all three scenarios sustainable biochar is more efficient than biomass combustion, as less emissions are achieved, this is because biochar stores more carbon as a stable structure. Biochar has further benefits other than sequestering carbon into soils such as increasing soil fertility, in turn this stimulates plant growth and therefore consumes more CO2. Biochar may also mean a reduction in chemical fertilizers, as it is a very fertile compound. Reduction in fertilizer use may result in a decrease in green house gases, this is because 15 when soil microbes on farms are receive lots of fertilizer they release high levels of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas with 300 times as much heat-trapping power as carbon dioxide. More carbon means less compaction in soils, meaning root structure can spread further and more easily. This will allow for a dense healthy root system to form mean better, stronger, higher yield giving crops.
METHODS WITHIN AGRICULTURE- There are many methods within agriculture which can be used to enhance the input of atmospheric carbon into the soils. These methods will be split into arable (land used or suitable for growing crops) and livestock rotation methods.
i. ARABLE- There are 4 main practices with in the agricultural industry that increase carbon inputs, these include:
1. Improved varieties or species with greater root mass to deposit carbon in deeper layers where turnover is slower. 16 Roots of annual crop plants are a major sink for carbon particularly during early, vegetative growth when up to one-half of all assimilated carbon may be translocated below ground.
2. Adopting crop rotations that provide greater carbon inputs, and for example changing from annual to perennial crops increases carbon inputs below ground and results in a reduction in soil disturbance.
3. More residue retention, as higher carbon content in the soils means more water can be held. Decaying residue also means that pollution is reduced.
4. Cover crops during fallow periods to provide year-round carbon inputs and retain nutrients.
Cover crops are a particularly good way of increasing carbon inputs as once the crop has
15 https://www.sciencenews.org/article/fertilizer-produces-far-more-greenhouse-gas-expected - Mole, Beth. "Fertilizer Produces Far More Greenhouse Gas Than Expected". Science News. N.p.,
2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2017. 16http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00017089 - Gregory, P. J., J. A. Palta, and G. R. Batts.
"Root Systems And Root:Mass Ratio-Carbon Allocation Under Current And Projected Atmospheric Conditions In Arable Crops". N.p., 2017. Print.
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been killed off their roots remain in the ground. Therefore, this increases the carbon in the soil in the plant organic matter. Cover crops are commonly planted between September and October because they offer a range benefits for farmers (discussed later) as well as increasing carbon levels in soils. Often plants such as radishes and high root mass plants are used as cover crops as they sequester the most carbon as they have high organic matter levels. Their extensive root system means less compaction and there’s also organic matter above ground as well as below ground, which will eventually make its way into the soil as well.
The presence of a cover crop also decreases soil erosion as they offer more protection to the land during the winter months17 as opposed to the bare stubble soil which may have been present in earlier years if a winter cereal crop had not been planted there before hand. This is because soil erosion occurs mainly on bare land, where it is exposed to the elements. There is no organic material to prevent rain from breaking the soil up18 and washing the particles away with the runoff. However, with the cover crop present this can be avoided and runoff is also slowed and filtration through the soil profile improved, as a root system is introduced. In addition to controlling erosion, cover crops and their decaying residues reduce pollution by preventing runoff of nutrients and pesticides into surface water. Also, cover crops may allow earlier field access for farm machinery and improve traction during wet springs. Retaining moisture is important in the sustainability of crop. Crop residues are the remains of the crop after
the valuable part has been harvested, rather than organic material which has been brought in from elsewhere and then added to the soil. Some soils have closely packed particles and others don’t, therefore different size pores are created in various soil types. Large groups of soil particles (aggregates) retain the most nutrients. Therefore, in dryer regions residue retention is a very important factor, but should also be considered in moister climates as a healthy soil has good hydraulic conductivity. Residue retention19 (as well as minimum tillage) has been identified as promising management
17 http://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Managing-Cover-Crops-Profitably-3rd-Edition/Text-Version/Benefits-of-Cover-Crops - Nationwide, SARE. "Benefits Of Cover
Crops". Sare.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 10 Aug. 2016. 18 http://extension.psu.edu/plants/crops/soil-management/conservation-tillage/cover-crops-for-conservation-tillage-systems - "Cover Crops For Conservation Tillage Systems (Crops And
Soils)". Crops and Soils (Penn State Extension). N.p., 2016. Web. 30 July 2016. 19 http://www.conservationevidence.com/actions/907 - "Retain Crop Residues - Conservation
Evidence". Conservationevidence.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 17 Aug. 2016.
Figure 2 http://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/soils/tillage/tires-traction-and-compaction/
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practices for sustainable agricultural intensification for some time,20 within Conservation Agriculture. These are the methods used to increase carbon inputs, however, there are methods which reduce the amount of stable carbon released from soils. These methods are now starting to be introduced because traditional ploughing releases huge amounts of CO2, in fact farming online’s soil specialist Dr. John Baker 21 states “When you look at it from a global level, you realise that 15-20% of the CO2 in the world’s atmosphere comes from ploughing.” He continues to add that this is approximately three tonnes of CO2 per hectare released by cultivation each year.
MINIMUM TILLAGE AND NO- TILLAGE
When soil is exposed to the air, when cultivated, ploughed or planted, the stable carbon matter reacts with oxygen in the air, creating carbon dioxide, a harmful green house gas. To try and prevent these large amount of CO2 being released each year, several methods can be adopted by farmers. 22The first one I would like to mention is the low- disturbance, no- tillage. Tillage is the preparation of land for growing crops. This specific, specialized system works by piercing directly through crop remains and sowing seed under the ground along with fertilizers to aid their growth. Not only does this no- tillage practice save the farmer time and fuel as crop is directly planted, it also reduces the maintenance of farm machinery, and ensures minimal disturbance to the topsoil. This means that humidity is trapped and most importantly it prevents carbon from being released into the atmosphere and improves the crop yields. 23The use of minimum tillage or no tillage is generally more reliable when it comes to planting, compared to direct drilling mainly because it allows for better broad-leaved weed control and clearing the surface of straw and wheel ruts. However minimum tillage isn’t the easiest to achieve as it requires time, commitment and seems to particularly suit drier and more stable structured soils. 24Not only this but the machinery needed is specialist and expensive, making it difficult for all farmers to obtain these highly engineered products.
25There are a few drill companies, such as Mzuri, which focus on soil health, by providing, and constantly improving their direct drill machinery and are strip tillage specialists. Strip tillage is a means of sustainable intensive farming that only involves the tillage of a targeted area, whilst leaving crop residue on the surface, retaining moisture, organic matter and
20 http://file.scirp.org/pdf/OJSS_2014033109252581.pdf - Sommer, Rolf et al. "Effects Of Zero
Tillage And Residue Retention On Soil Quality In The Mediterranean Region Of Northern Syria". Open Journal of Soil Science 04.03 (2014): 109-125. Web. 15 Aug. 2016. 21 http://www.farming.co.uk/news/article/9410 - "Farming News - 20 Per Cent Of World’S CO2
From Ploughing – Soil Scientist". Farming.co.uk. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2016. 22 http://www.crossslot.com/news.php?extend.45.7 - ltd, Spinning. "Cross Slot: Dr John Baker Talks
About No-Till In CRP Ground". Crossslot.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2016. 23 tn553minimumtillage- Dec 2003. Accessed- 14 Aug 2016 24 https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/sssaj/abstracts/78/2/348 - Olson, Kenneth R. et
al. "Experimental Consideration, Treatments, And Methods In Determining Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Rates". N.p., 2015. Print. 25 http://mzuri.eu/ - Home - Mzuri". Mzuri. N.p., 2015. Web. 17 Sept. 2016.
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vastly increasing worm activity and fertility. Another advantage of direct drilling is that it results in a lot less compaction.
Compaction can affect yields, because excessive soil compaction impedes root growth and therefore limits the amount of soil explored by roots. 26This, in turn, can decrease the plant's ability to take up nutrients and water. As well as this in the drier month’s soil compaction can lead to stunted and drought stressed plants which leads to minimal growth. Compaction also means less infiltration, and therefore more runoff which results in soil erosion and the loss of a natural resource, which cannot be readily replaced. 27Figure 2 clearly shows that in the dry season grain yield gradually increases as compaction increases, until a certain point where it peaks and then decreases again. This is because the soil is dry and therefore the pores are larger, and can take more compaction. In the wet season the yield decreases as soon as compaction increases. This is because the pores are brought together due to the presence of rain water. Minimum tillage systems28 are now an established part of mainstream UK agriculture, accounting for an estimated 40% of all cultivations. However, worldwide these methods are not as common, especially in Africa, Asia and South America where more traditional methods such as ploughing, are still being used.
ii. LIVESTOCK: Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and therefore is seen as threat to our planet. This same gas is regularly produce by cows, therefore cows must be bad for the climate, and a threat. This is not the case as they can be used to mankind’s advantage. Without these
green house gases, the Earth would be lifeless as it would be far too cold (-19C) to support life. Not only can a difference be made within the arable sector of farming but huge amount of carbon can be sequestered using livestock, which are farm animals such as cows and sheep. Judith Schwartz, an American author of ‘Cows Save The Planet’ 29 has done a lot of research into the use of cows and explains that; “Depending on the season, depending on how much photosynthesis is happening, it dips down, and then goes up again. When we've got a lot of plants, as we get towards the summer, more
photosynthesis is happening, as it is warmer and there is more intense light, causing the CO2 levels drop slightly.”
27 http://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/soils/tillage/tires-traction-and-compaction/ - "Tires, Traction And Compaction : Soil Management And Health : University Of Minnesota Extension". Extension.umn.edu. N.p., 2013. Web. 13 Sept. 2016. 28http://www.kuhn.co.uk/internet/prospectus.nsf/0/2B4AFFE429F99E98C125715D002F62FA/$File/KUHN_Guide_TCS_GB.pdf - Minimum tillage guide. 2013. Kuhn. Accessed 15th Aug 2016 29http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/01/12/grazing-cows-biological-farming.aspx - How Grazing Cows Can Save The Planet". Mercola.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2016.
Figure 3
Carbon soil sequestration: how are agricultural methods, education and awareness contributing to reducing climate change within the UK?
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This is very important, as photosynthesis is key to bringing carbon back into the soil, therefore this can be achieved by growing more plants. Those plants then take in the CO2. They make carbon compounds which can then be drawn down, into the soil, therefore carbon from the atmosphere is sequestered. This can be achieved with the help of cows and other herd animals. Figure 3 shows that the shorter the organic matter above the soil also reflects the organic matter below the soil. It has also reproduced the effect grazers would have on the grasses and is a useful visual to demonstrate the frequency of grazing grasses. The management of cattle can be done in such a manner that both the soil and environment can benefit. Present day herds are kept in such a way that inevitably leads to desertification of soils (the process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture). This means the soils cannot hold life for plants, and
therefore no photosynthesis, and in turn no sequestration can be carried out. There are 5 billion hectares of degraded, seasonally dry grassland on the planet, some of which are the result of human influence and action. These areas can be changed using correct management, and therefore are a massive key to sequestering more carbon in our soils. Figure 4 shows the extensive root systems that grasses have and how the vegetation mirrors the roots. It also shows that vegetation health reflects root health. Not only can herds of cattle be used to our advantage but any large herd can be utilized in this situation, thus making it even more effective. 30 For example, in the Serengeti, there are few, but large herds of wildebeest’s. They are constantly moving to find fresh pastures over thousands of kilometers, yet they say in a tight group for safety. This means they have no other choice than to move on when there’s no grass left, this is normally after a few days. After this they will not return for month or years (this gives the recovery time needed). Once these long grasses have been eaten, they have a root system which is way too large for the small leaf they need to support. Therefore, the excess roots are cut off, returning carbon back into the soil and sequestering it. All of this extra material is organic carbon going straight into the soil, therefore this practice is practically pumping carbon from the atmosphere into the ground and there by sequestering it. This exact same process can be done with western herds, such as cattle. Another good thing about mass herd movement is that the herds of animals also trample the ground and leave faeces which is very good for the soil as it breaks it up and provides it
30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z75A_JMBx4 - Cows, Carbon And Climate | Joel Salatin |
Tedxcharlottesville". YouTube. N.p., 2013. Web. 2 Sept. 2016.
Figure 4
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with nutrients. Then the area is left and is able to recover, therefore meaning overgrazing is avoided as the herds move on once the majority of matter has been consumed. This who process is an example of a practice called ‘Mob Grazing’ which is short is an intensive rotational 31 grazing system, based on the idea of grazing a large amount of cattle, or any herd, on a small amount of land, for a very short period of time.
If grasses are overgrazed, or frequently re- grazed then there is too greater loss of energy storage and root loss therefore the plant dies. Grazing up to 50% of the leaf does not effect the growth, however more than this and roots are effected. 32At 80% leaf elimination stops root growth completely. 33Neil Dennis is a grazer from Saskatchewan, who started mob grazing in 1998 and since then has become a leading example for the practice. He tried mob grazing (for six months) and found the grass species became more diverse and infiltration rates improved significantly. As a result of changing his grazing he is growing soil by the inch, the mob grazing technique feeds the soil with good doses of manure and treads a significant percentage of grass back in too. This is not at the expense of the cattle; the amount of grass this approach has created has allowed 34 ‘Neil to increase his stocking density three fold.’
Figure 5 demonstrates perfectly how carbon from the atmosphere can be captured in root organic matter, and eventually can be stored in soils once they have been grazed and the root to leaf tissue ratio (the organic matter above and bellow ground) levels out, as seen in this picture. 35Land based plants pull out a total of 8% of carbon from the atmosphere each year. This means that if it weren’t for animals and respiring organisms all the CO2 in the atmosphere will have been absorbed in 12 years’ time. It is so important to utilize and enhance the effects trees, crops and grasses can impose on soils, and their carbon composition. This is more vital now than ever as it is clear that it is the human race which is causing this problem of global warming and increasing carbon in the atmosphere. Cows, buffalo and many other large mammals roamed this Earth for millions of years in harmony with the oceans and atmosphere. However, it is now, within the past 100 years or so that we have experienced the most dramatic change (increase) in carbon outputs that the planet Earth has ever seen, mainly due to the industrial revolution.
Not only should grasses be enhanced, but so should forests. The mass of a tree above
31 http://sustainablefoodtrust.org/articles/mob-grazing-offering-an-alternative-to-gmos/ - Price, Francesca. "Sustainable Food Trust". Sustainable Food Trust. N.p., 2013. Web. 26 Feb. 2017. 32 https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/docs/fpb/rmf01/RMf-4023.htm - Draft, Remedial
Measures Primer Pilot Version 1.0 54". For.gov.bc.ca. N.p., 2008. Web. 4 Sept. 2016. 33 Kate Adams Final Report- ‘How are farmers re-engaged with their soils? Through fear, finance,
regulation or education? Nuffield Scholarship, 2016. Accessed 05 Dec 2016. 34 Kate Adams Final Report- ‘How are farmers re-engaged with their soils? Through fear, finance,
regulation or education? Nuffield Scholarship, 2016. Accessed 09 Dec 2016. 35 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgmssrVInP0 - "Soil Carbon -- Putting Carbon Back Where It
Belongs -- In The Earth | Tony Lovell | Tedxdubbo". YouTube. N.p., 2012. Web. 13 Aug. 2016.
Figure 5
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ground is mirrored with is roots bellow, in a similar way to the grasses. This means about 50% of organic matter is above ground and therefore 50% is below ground. However, with grass it is about 20% of organic matter above ground to 80% below ground, therefore a hectare of healthy grass can actually almost sequester just as much carbon as a hectare of large trees, as there are gaps between the trees. Roots also release organic compound into the soils of which the majority will contain carbon. These include 36 polysaccharides such as fructose and amino acids such as asparagine. This means that there is an awfully large amount of carbon which can be captured using this method and therefore it is of upmost importance to start encouraging this type of farming as well as spreading the word within other communities, as this will enhance the effect.
PRIMARY RESEARCH
i. The importance of education: My first stimulus for this project arose when I began running an after school science club in the local primary school (St. Thomas Cantaloupe). During one of these sessions I gave the children, aged between 9- 11 years old, a short questionnaire regarding the simple fundamental aspects of climate change. 37Before carrying out this questionnaire there was thorough research done into the key stage two syllabus 38and investigation into what sort of questions would be suitable for this age group. Multiple website where used and from these simple answers where deduced. 39 There was a lot of thought put into how I asked these questions, and it was decided, after some research, that multiple choice and yes/ no answers would be best for my questionnaire as the topic is less known by the pupils. I decided that for the simpler questions to leave an answer space, so the students could write their own answer. After the quiz was given I went through the answers with the children which helped me determine how much the children understood. There where a few children within the class which seemed to be fairly knowledgeable on the subject. This therefore suggests that these children have gathered their understanding from home, either from their parents, TV, books or own interest.
Quiz on Climate Change and environmental issues
36 https://agrinfobank.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/organic-compounds-released-by-plant-roots/- "Organic Compounds Released By Plant Roots". Agriculture Information Bank. N.p., 2013. Web. 15
Mar. 2017. 37 http://www.cafod.org.uk/Education/Primary-schools/Climate- "Climate Change Resources For
Children | CAFOD". Cafod.org.uk. N.p., 2015. Web. 5 May 2016. 38https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/425618/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_Science.pdf- N.p., 2014. Web. 5 Mar. 2017. 39 http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/27/uk-floods-and-extreme-global-weather-linked-to-el-nino-and-climate-change- Vidal, John. "UK Floods And Extreme Global Weather
Linked To El Niño And Climate Change". the Guardian. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
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Answer the questions below individually and underline the correct answer to the multiple choice questions. 1) What do you think climate change is? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………..
2) What do you think is the main cause of climate change? Human activity Volcanoes The Earths hot centre
3) Can you think of any ways in which we are contributing to climate change? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………..…………….. 4) Do you think climate change effects the environment?
Yes No Yes, it will in the future 5) Which of the following are not greenhouse gases?
Oxygen Carbon dioxide Methane
6) Which of the following have been linked to climate change?
Droughts Flooding Melting glaciers All of these
7) If there is a 2-3C temperature rise over the next 20 years, how many people could be at risk of hunger?
10 million 50 million 200 million 8) How do you think you can help to slow global warming?
Use green energy Plant trees Recycle All of these 9) Does climate change effect the UK?
Yes No 10) What is a fossil fuel? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………
11) What is a renewable energy? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………
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The correct answers, which I prepared with brief explanations were as follows: ANSWERS TO CLIMATE CHANGE QUIZ 1) What do you think climate change is? The Earth’s weather is being changed by greenhouse gases (especially carbon dioxide) that we are putting into the atmosphere. This is called climate change.40
2) What do you think causes climate change? 41The main causes are humans and the gases we produce greenhouse effect. We produce CO2 via combustion which goes into atmosphere and is either absorbed in the oceans (which makes them expand (thermal expansion)) or the suns energy is absorbed causing the atmosphere to heat up. This however is only enhanced by greenhouse gases. 3) Can you think of any ways in which we are contributing to climate change? There are many ways, for example all the planes, cars, factories, deforestation, agriculture and animal farming, these animals produce methane.
4) Do you think climate change effects the environment? Yes. Last seen in 1989, the golden frog lived in mountaintop cloud forests that have disappeared due to drought and other climatic changes. Other confounding factors are poisonous fungi, which has killed off many frogs worldwide. Other animals are threatened. Such as 42Polar bears, trees and fish are featured in the 7 most endangered species due to climate change. 5) Which of the following are not greenhouse gases? Oxygen. 43The other greenhouse gases are water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone. 6) Which of the following have been linked to climate change? All of them. Climate change is likely to lead to more extreme weather. Think of any others? Flooding?
40 http://climatekids.nasa.gov/review/greenhouse-effect/- "NASA's Climate
Kids". Climatekids.nasa.gov. N.p., 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2016. 41 http://globalwarming-facts.info/50-tips/2/ - "How To Stop Global Warming: Top 50 Things To
Do.". Global Warming Facts. N.p., 2014. Web. 10 May 2016. 42 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140331-global-warming-climate-change-ipcc-animals-science-environment/ - Photograph Paul Souders, CORBIS. "7 Species Hit Hard
By Climate Change—Including One That's Already Extinct". News.nationalgeographic.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2016. 43 https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-references/faq/greenhouse-gases.php - "Greenhouse Gases | Monitoring References | National Centers For Environmental Information (NCEI)". Ncdc.noaa.gov. N.p., 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
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7) If there is a 2-3C temperature rise over the next 20 years, how many people could be at risk of hunger?
200 million. This is due to drought and diseases being formed due to changing climates.
8) How can you help to slow global warming? All of the answers are correct, and can contribute to slowing climate change. You can also collect rain water. You can do simple things like changing to more efficient light bulbs or setting up an auto thermostat. Turning lights off when you leave a room and having solar panels all adds up will make a difference in the long run. 9) Does climate change effect the UK? Yes, the recent flooding is a really good example of this. Some summers there are droughts and in other parts of the country there are floods. Generally, the weather has been more unpredictable in recent years, which will affect crops and other plants which grow seasonally, for example, early daffodils. 10) What is a fossil fuel? A natural source of energy is one which is finite and, eventually will run out one day. For example, coal, oil, gas and these use to be organism a very long time ago.
11) What is a renewable energy? Energy from a source that is not depleted when used. This could be wind or solar power energy. These recourses are readily available and will always be present and therefore cannot run out. We can also use wave power and biomass to provide energy. These are also good because they do not produce CO2 and therefore don’t pollute the atmosphere. However, these energy source don’t produce as much energy. I analyzed some of the data and generally scores where very good. Here are some of the
Figure 6
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results. This question would demonstrate how much the children knew about the general topic of climate change and global warming. I asked them this question as it would show how bad the children thought climate change could get. The correct answer for this question was 200 million, the highest number out of these answers. This answer was also the least frequently chosen answer, showing that the pupils at St. Thomas Cantaloupe had little understanding of how this small (to them) global temperature change could have such a major impact on the world. This graph shows that the smallest number of children actually chose the correct
answer, as only three out of the thirteen children answered this question correctly. This bar chart also shows that the same number of students thought that 10 million and 50 million people would be affected by this change, therefore suggesting that the lower half of the data was favoured. The question in figure 7 was asked in order to see how the children responded to each of these factors. It was interesting to see which of these choices the children selected, as they would all contribute to slowing climate change. This question also allowed me to see whether the children thought that all of these were beneficial for the environment or not. If only one was selected this would suggest that the others wouldn’t contributed to the slowing of global warming. The majority of the students at St Thomas Cantaloupe chose the correct answer which was ‘All of these’. This suggests that general knowledge of the students on this issue is good, perhaps because they’re practicing these methods themselves at home. It is likely that the children’s parents will be encouraging their children to recycle, as their awareness is increased by government providing recycling bins for recyclable wastes such as paper and some plastics. This is why the second largest segment of the the pie chart being recycling.
Figure 7
How do you think you can help slow global warming?
Green energy Planty trees Recycle All of these
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Generally, there was little knowledge within this subject area, and this led me into the investigation of the specification of 44Key Stage 2 syllabus. There was no mention of climate change or environmental issues, and I believe that if we are to make a real change towards reducing climate change, awareness within this age group (7-10 year olds) and it needs to be introduced. An introduction of this subject, in non- specialist form, at a young age could make a vast difference as children will be able to live considering effects of various actions, both beneficial and harmful, on the environment and the atmosphere. Although these questions where not directly aimed towards carbon sequestration, it is clear that if this subject had been questioned there would have been no knowledge. Even the basic fundamentals of climate change had not been taught, so understanding of sequestration was not to be expected, especially within this age group. After discovering this I began to research further into whether higher education syllabuses included the education soil sequestration or indeed climate change in general. Due to these results I decided to send the same questionnaire to the Hereford Cathedral Junior School to see whether the results would be any different. It was to be expected that in this group there would be more correct answers as these children would probably be more aware of their environment and education in this subject area would be more thorough. This is due to the teachers teaching beyond the specification, and the head of science having a PHD in biology. These children are perhaps being encouraged to be more inquisitive in this subject area compared to the children at Cantaloupe. This graphs show some of the results gathered from the children at Hereford Cathedral Junior School.
The bar chart in figure 8 shows that the majority of the children from Junior School thought that it was most likely that 50 million people would be affected by the
44https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/425618/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_Science.pdf
Figure 8
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temperature change. There was one student who answered naught on the sheet so I put it on the table. It is interesting to see that a student would answer outside the responses that were already suggested. This shows thinking outside the box, however, as the answer was wrong it also displays some misunderstanding of the questions. This suggests that I could have amended the wording of my questions to improve clarity for the children.
The pie chart displayed in figure 9 shows a very good response to this question. Over 75% of the class thought that all of the methods should be used to slow global warming, which was the correct answer. Interestingly, no one thought that trees alone should be planted to slow global warming. This suggests that the class thinks that trees would not make a significant change to global warming. The increase in the ‘All of these’ proportion in Hereford Cathedral Junior School student’s responses suggests that they are far more aware of what can be done to slow climate change. This may be due to education at school, as teachers are aware of these issues and will have more intellect in such a subject. Parental advice at home, such as having recycling bins, composting or solar panels will also increase awareness of the children. When discussing science with the students at HCJS it was clear that their knowledge was far better than the children I had been teaching at St. Thomas Cantaloupe. At HCJS the students have science lessons three times a week, as well as having an oversubscribed weekly science club and wildlife photography club, which hold competitions to get students involved. I spoke to a child, who was very enthusiastic about the science club, and she told me about some of the activities they had been doing. For example, each student was given a caterpillar, which they fed, looked after and eventually they watch it grow into a beautiful butterfly. PRIMARY RSEARCH
ii. Awareness within agriculture:
Figure 9
How do you think you can help slow global warming?
Use Green Energy Plant Trees Recycle All Of These
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Peer to peer learning is essential as groups led by farmers directed towards farmers will use
understandable language and will be far more relatable. Ensuring those who have already
implemented “leading” practice is accessible to a wider audience improves likelihood of
uptake by others. However, these discussion groups, 45for example the Manitoba Grazing
Club, are very often specifically directed and have defined interests and therefore farmer’s
opportunities to learn from other sector’s is reduced.
Therefore, in order to assess the knowledge of carbon soil sequestration within the local young farmers I sent a few questionnaires out to two of the local YFC groups, the clubs being the Lugg Valley and Fownhope Young farmers. I chose these local clubs as I knew that these farmers were less likely to currently be practicing carbon capture, and are probably releasing carbon from their soils due to cultivation and ploughing methods. Here is the email I sent, with two of the responses underneath form some of the young farmers:
Hi, if you could please answer these questions with as much detail that you can that would be great. If you have any more information or questions on the subject, please let me know as it will really help me complete my EPQ project on soil carbon sequestration. Thank you in advanced. Do you think that it is important to prevent or slow climate change?
Not going to presently, but it is important slow down climate change.
Think we have gone too far to prevent it, but its important to slow down whenever possible.
Would you change traditional practice and methods, such as ploughing, to reduce climate change?
What is traditional? Each farm is different. Livestock vs arable, or mixed farming, soli types and location.
Yes- for example growing GM crops will reduce pesticides and will be manageable, however is a huge expense to farmer so may not be achievable.
Do you know what, or have you heard of carbon sequestration?
I guess, locking up carbon in the soil and using trees and hedgerows.
No. Are organic matter levels in soils important for soil health and would it improve yields?
Organic matter will change in different soils. It matters to both water management and worm numbers. Crop growth, and soil will be easier to work if higher organic matter and therefore lowering carbon footprint.
N/A.
45 Kate Adams Final Report- ‘How are farmers re-engaged with their soils? Through fear, finance,
regulation or education?’ Nuffield Scholarship, 2016. Accessed 02 Dec 2016.
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The Young farmer’s response to the questionnaire sent out revealed that there was very little knowledge within their community on this subject, the general consensus in response to my questions was that it would be very difficult to change traditional methods, and more importantly would the farmers be willing to change? The two responses shown here are very different, the second one clearly shows that there is no knowledge on soil sequestration or the methods. My research, using the Farmers Weekly and other magazines, into how farmers perceive this issue has suggested that farmers in general are unwilling to change, as they are traditionalists and some who are willing do not have the funding for such a change. Therefore, this issue needs to be addressed at Young Farmers level, to make them understand the key concepts and their benefits. The fact that one of the responses displayed no knowledge of the meaning carbon sequestration suggests that more needs to be done to advise farmers on this subject to try and get them involved in sequestering more. WORK EXPERIENCE: The week of work experience in June with Kate Speke- Adams really helped me with my research regarding farmers and education. I was given access to her Nuffield scholarship report, which was titled: ‘How are farmers re-engaged with their soils? Through fear, finances, regulation or education?’ Reading this report really helped me engage with how farmers are working together and creating forward thinking grazing clubs such as the The Manitoba Grazing Club. From Kate’s report I was also able to judge if the farmers were open to any suggestions regarding new methods, and many of them were. However, it should be taken into consideration that these people were targeted due to their innovative. I was also able to understand the significance finance has on restricting the practice of these methods of many farmers. The main issue holding back many farmers from sequestration is their stubbornness and strong beliefs in the use of the traditional methods.
During my week of work experience, I had the opportunity to discus the management of flooded potato land, which due to the lack of organic matter (carbon), the soil had been carried by the heavy rain across the field into and blocked the near by B road. The strategy which could have been used to avoid this disaster, is cover cropping (planting crop) over winter. This would have increased the organic matter levels and sequestered carbon into the farmer’s soils, making it fertile for planting a spring crop.
I also had the chance of judging the annual County Competition in Hayward End. When doing this I assessed cover crops, and their effectiveness in the areas in which they where planted, which were mainly steep hills, where soil erosion is most common. Field management was also assessed, where I learnt that intense grazing of cattle of sheep can for short periods, can play a big part on soil health, organic matter and therefore sequestering carbon. I also learnt that field margins can act as an important carbon sink, depending on which species planted. It has been suggested by the British Society of Soli Science that46 ‘The carbon sequestration potential of the individual options (width of margin and types of plants) investigated here varies from 0.1 to 2.4% of 1990 UK CO2-C emissions.’
46 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-2743.2004.tb00364.x/abstract?system - Falloon, P., D. Powlson, and P. Smith. "Managing Field Margins For Biodiversity And Carbon Sequestration: A
Great Britain Case Study". N.p., 2004. Print.
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This is a significant amount for unused, and useless space surrounding the majority of farm landscapes. and meadow mix’s and other factors were assessed. I learnt that farming can be done in a way to help the environment and aid carbon soil sequestration, as no till and direct drilling methods were used on many of the farms.
SOILS GROUP MEETINGS: Kate introduced me to a soils group, where we engaged with a local farmer, Chris, a farmer near Pembridge. I was able to see his very interesting use of poultry muck, cow muck and maize in an anaerobic digester. The heat produced by the digester was then used to heat the chicken sheds and the waste was then spread on the fields as a fertiliser. As well as this Chris also rotated his cattle on his grassland, meaning more carbon will be sequestered as grass is allowed to recover, therefore increasing root matter. Chris was trialing with under- sowing his maize crops with grass, meaning they could also be grazed by his cattle. This created a multipurpose crop as it will be fertilized by the cows, will not be bare over the winter moths and two crops are grown together, increasing organic, matter in soil and improving soil health for worms and improving yields of crops.
Figure 10 shows two maize plants dug from two different fields, were different planting methods were used. The plant to the right is more established because it was direct drill into a field with a good soil structure using a Mzuri strip till, creating a good soil structure due to little compaction. This crop was also under sown with grass, meaning that the soil was loser and root system could penetrate further into the soil. This therefore supports the use of direct drilling for carbon soil sequestration as a higher carbon/ organic matter level will be in the soil.
Meeting a local soils group to discuss some issues on a near by farm was very insightful. It was very apparent how the lack of organic matter structure within the soils can impede the crops and this drew my attention to is importance. Addressing this problem would involve growing cover crops to return matter and this in turn would also mean returning carbon to the soils as the roots remain in the ground. To maintain organic matter levels different tillage methods are used, such as direct drilling and again this will reduce amounts of carbon released as the land isn’t cultivated therefore locked carbon isn’t in contact with the atmosphere. A University of Yale’s study 47 carried out in 2014 found that the world’s cultivated soils have lost 50 to 70 % of their original carbon stock in to the Earths atmosphere purely due to cultivation. It suggests that we need to change the methods and try more sustainable methods. Not only does this natural way of sequestration by growing plants take in and store carbon, it also has many other benefits such as returning nutrients
47http://e360.yale.edu/feature/soil_as_carbon_storehouse_new_weapon_in_climate_fight/2744/ - Soil As Carbon Storehouse: New Weapon In Climate Fight?". Yale E360. N.p., 2014. Web. 26 Aug.
2016.
Figure 10- Comparison between planting methods on Chris’s farm (My photo)
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and organic matter back to soils which in turn will aid farmers in the long run as higher yields and crop health will improve. In 2014,48 the UK the agriculture sector was to be held accountable for 10% of the greenhouse gas emissions, CO2 being one of these. There is an over decrease in trend of CO2 production but this is only due to fall in animal numbers and decrease in synthetic fertiliser use. Soil carbon sequestration is one of a few methods that can be applied at large scales and still remain relatively cheep. 49France is aiming to do this successfully by increasing soil carbon concentration in a large portion of agricultural soils globally, by 0.4% per year. I also learnt from the soils groups that arable land has far greater potential to sequester carbon compared to grassland. This is largely because arable is annually cultivated, and therefore has a much lower organic content, as it is released when exposed to the open air. Therefore arable cropland will have the ability to sequester more carbon, compared to pastures, as there aren’t any extensive root systems present. INTERVIEW WITH LOCAL FARMER: I was lucky enough to be able to interview Adam Lewis who has shown great interest and passion regarding this subject area and here are Adam’s responses to the questions I asked him on the 06.12.16. I met Adam through the soils group and later decided that a deeper understanding of which methods farmers were using and why was very necessary.
1. What sort of farmer are you, arable, mixed or livestock? ‘The farm is predominantly arable, just crops. Those being oil-seed rape, oats and wheat, on the off year I sometimes grow beans or barley.’
2. Do you know what carbon sequestration is? ‘Yes, it is where a plant captures carbon via photosynthesis, and traps the carbon within the plants cell structure. This carbon can then be captured in the soil via decaying plant matter.’
3. Are you aware of the role that carbon soil sequestration can play within agriculture? ‘Yes, for example, every one percent rise in organic matter levels within the soils will result in 25 tonnes per acre of pure carbon sequestered. Cover crops are also grown over the winter months.
4. Which methods do you use on the farm to sequester carbon? ‘Instead of bailing my straw I have decided to chop it to return the plant matter back to the soils. Direct drilling and minimum tillage techniques mean that due to undisturbed soil, organic matter is not oxidized as it is not exposed to air. This will raise the soil organic matter levels, trapping carbon.’
5. Do you know how much carbon your crops are capable of holding? ‘20,000 tonnes of carbon can be capture on the 800 acres of land which Adam owns due to the sequestration methods mentioned above.’
48https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416810/2014_stats_release.pdf - 2014. Accessed 14 Aug 2016 49http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2985914/frances_plan_to_increase_its_soil_carbon_is_an_example_to_the_world.html- Quinton, John. "France's
Plan To Increase Its Soil Carbon Is An Example To The World". The Ecologist. N.p., 2015. Web. 8 Jan. 2017.
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6. What are the benefits you have experienced since changing your methods to sequester carbon?
‘I started working on these new methods between 3 to 10 years ago, and since then I have been able to cultivate less and this has resulted in a 50% cut in fuel use and costs. These methods make work far quicker and the soils are easier to work as they are more friable and easier to seed due to organic matter breaking up the soils. Infiltration rates have been enhanced and there is less surface runoff and sediment loss. There is also the benefit of nutrients being retuned. There has been an increase in earthworm numbers and biological activity. There is less PK applied and therefore a reduce in fertiliser costs and sometimes I use nitrogen fixing cover crops which means nitrate fertilisers are not needed.
However, I have had some struggles with these methods. This is mainly due to the fact that the machinery is specialist and therefore expensive. There is also the expense and planting of the cover crops and the benefit is long term, and can take at least 5 years to become apparent.’
7. Do you know which plants may sequester more carbon? ‘No, however I presume cereal crops sequester more than pea plants due to the fact that they have more straw material. Crops with more green cover will also sequester more carbon.’
8. Which other methods within agriculture can you think of may be done to sequester carbon?
‘Long term forestry could see lots of carbon locked and returned to the soil.’ 9. Have you seen any environmental benefit?
‘Yes, over the years I have definitely seen a change in the clarity of the lakes and streams around the farm, this is probably due to less soil erosion as infiltration and soil organic levels increase.’ The responses Adam gave were particularly interesting, and suggest that there is discussion of soil carbon sequestration within the farming community. This led me to further study the knowledge within the farming community and drew me to the expertise of a local farmer within the soils group. This was Philip Griffiths response to the questions I sent to the soils group regarding soil carbon sequestration and farming. Q. Do you think that it is important to prevent or slow climate change? Yes. To have policy to reduce Global Carbon at personal level is crucial as for my motivation. I have a 5yr girl which forces me to consider my own personal actions Mainline cars are 60 mpgs and house heating systems are wood based still using oil central heating as back up to minimum. Q. Would you change traditional practice and methods, such as ploughing, to reduce climate change? Yes. I'm aware of Carbon loss through ploughing so much so that on my farm we've only ploughed 3 times in over 10 years. Q. Do you know what, or have you heard of carbon sequestration? Yes. In the model of 4/1000 initiative and zero carbon
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Q. Are organic matter levels in soils important for soil health and would it improve yields? Yes. That is part of my policy. It yet has to be delivered from a physical perspective. I have SOM (soil organic matter level) recordings going back to 2000. My awareness was based on the fact that as climates alter then areas such as my farm which is naturally drier would become more so and difficult to maintain spring soil moisture levels into summer. Therefore, shallow cropping would be uneconomic.
Since that time I've realised that few farmers and businesses have acted on this, except for greenwash - not moving us forward in our understanding and our Political policy makers have become moribund to the different lobby groups with the inability to understand or undertake the challenge of change. Q. Do you do anything to try and capture carbon or improve your soil organic matter levels? Or know of any methods which are being used successfully? Yes. To all. Reduced tillage, keeping ground covered, using organic fertiliser such as straw incorporation, poultry litter and composting. Reduction in soil movement, increased plant cover with minimal heavy vehicle compaction. All help to rebuild soil resilience and enable carbon building or sequestration. Reductions in purchased fertiliser and chemical, later autumn planting and minimal number of passes all help. This in turn knocks onto the need for lower yield with similar gross margin returns whilst retaining moisture and Carbon. Perhaps a move to 30% Spring cropping allows the farmer to be less concerned with autumn planting and reduces need to push the final cultivations. Also moving difficult grass fields to the spring reduces chemical bills and moves one out of fixed farming rotations. This feedback from Philip was extremely useful and it made me pleased to hear that there are some farmers, hopefully more than is thought, who are incredibly aware of this issue and have organised their farms in such a way as to work around sequestering carbon. As well as sequestering Philip is very aware of climate change and hopefully his concerns will spread in to the local community and his family. His awareness and understanding that there is a need for change to policies is very inspirational and something which should be taken on board by more farmers. Philip’s knowledge on this subject area is vast and therefore is very helpful for the farmers involved in the local soils group, as they can learn from what he has done. If many farmers do this, it may be the beginnings of actually making a difference. The suggestion for 30% spring cropping is an excellent way to leave land to rest over winter. HOW IS SEQUESTARTION BEING ENCOURAGED?
i. Schemes which Pay farmers back for carbon they sequester: Providing financial incentives is ultimately paying landowners and farmers to manage their land in a specific way to reduce negative impacts benefit of the wider society. Australian Nuffield Farming Scholar Mick Craig observed that “British farmers are like children being told to eat their vegetables, they don’t realise why it is good for them so they’re just doing
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as they’re told...” 50 If farmers are always paid for good practice, whether these are environmental stewardship or soil management practices, when the payments stop so may the good practice.
It would be far better if as a result of maintaining sustainable farming practices, which are financially beneficial for the farmer, poor soil management and water quality issues were resolved and avoided. Any payments should not be a driver and should instead just be an added bonus. This would make payments a reward for good farming rather than an incentive. Sequestering carbon in soils could be a good example of this: farmers actively building the organic matter levels and the health of their soils will be sequestering carbon too. At the moment agriculture is excluded from the European Carbon Trading Scheme; however, the “4 per 1000”51 initiative which was launched at the COP21 Climate Change talks in Paris during 2015 stressed this flaw. This initiative demonstrates that agriculture, and their soils in particular, can play a crucial role concerning food security and climate change. The main objective is to invite all partners to implement practical programs for carbon soil sequestration and the various farming methods used to achieve it. This engages participants towards a productive agriculture, with sustainable soil management. A 0.4% annual growth rate of the soil carbon stock could make it possible to halt the present in increase in atmospheric C02. For this reason, 4 per 1000 is very important as this small increase of carbon stock will increase soil fertility, agricultural production, and will contribute to the long term goal of limiting the
global temperature increase to 2C.
If a Carbon Trading System is established it should reward further those who are actively trying to replenish depleted organic matter levels. Of course these people will directly experience the benefits of these methods.
50 Kate Adams Final Report - Nuffield Scholarship, - ‘How are farmers re-engaged with their soils?
Through fear, finance, regulation or education?’ 2016. Accessed 27 Jan 2017. 51 http://4p1000.org/understand - "Understand The "4 Per 1000" Initiative". N.p., 2015. Web. 17 Jan.
2017.
Figure 11
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This sort of scheme has already worked. For example, when measuring the opportunity cost of sequestering carbon in tropical farms. The rates of carbon sequestration for timber and agroforestry systems have been measured and payment schedules are out in place for farmers who sequester carbon. The method is applied to data for an agricultural watershed in the 52Philippines and the present value of the opportunity cost of carbon storage via land modification falls between $3.30 and $62.50 per ton.
It is of great importance, especially now with Brexit, that the UK creates its own initiatives to encourage farmers, with payments, to sequester carbon.
AR Carbon is a UK scheme being launched which works by offsetting the carbon emissions of companies against carbon sequestered in soils by farmers. 53This scheme was co- founded by Richard Page who says: "Farmers can increase the fertility of their fields at the same time as gaining revenue."
Farmers could soon cash in on increases in soil carbon levels through a pioneering trading scheme, potentially generating up to £4,500 extra income a year. Of course there was the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme, which provides a financial incentive for the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide to cut back on emissions, however, agriculture is not a part of the scheme, and now after Brexit, it unlikely that the UK would have been included in such a programe.
Therefore, Richard Page has created something which will hopefully encourage farmers to sequester carbon, the main idea being for companies to pay to offset against the pollution they produce. A one per cent increase in the amount of carbon captured in soils across all UK agricultural land would in total be 900m tonnes of carbon.
Page says that "Some suggested practices are no-till, permanent cover, the use of compost and reducing the use of artificial chemicals," he says. These practices can be used by many farmers and will also see many farmers benefitting. Increases in soil carbon levels are calculated from annual soil samples across the farm. This is good as it makes the scheme suitable for any farm type, however more benefit will be seen for arable farmers in a shorter period, through a combination of savings on input costs and revenue from selling the carbon. It must be taken into consideration that there will be some costs involved in adopting this system, however after several years the farmer will be earning money by using his land to sequester carbon. 54AR Carbon suggests that between £3,500 and £4,500 can be earned in 50-hectare area per a year for up to 20 or 30 years."
Other benefits of adopting this scheme would be the fact that farmers would experience improved microbiology of the soil, increased nutrient levels by reducing leaching, higher levels of organic matter and healthier crops, all of which are explored earlier in the project.
52 http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=78f5c4a3-2ae4-472c-ac4f-26b2020b612b%40sessionmgr4007&vid=1&hid=410 - "EBSCO Publishing Service Selection
Page". Web.a.ebscohost.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 8 Nov. 2016. 53 http://www.fwi.co.uk/business/farmers-sought-for-carbon-trading-trial.htm - Fredenburgh,
Jez. "Farmers Sought For Carbon Trading Trial - Farmers Weekly". Farmers Weekly. N.p., 2013. Web. 14 Jan. 2017. 54 http://innovationcentremedway.co.uk/business-directory/ar-carbon-ltd/ - "AR Carbon Ltd -
Innovation Centre Medway". Innovationcentremedway.co.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.
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55Mr Page created the concept which began AR Carbon in 2013 and has undertaken research with many farmers across the UK with all types of farming and soil. The scheme was launched at the Cereals event, Lincolnshire, in June and has close to 100 farmer members already. These members pay £150 per year, plus an annual soil test, to asses the amount of organic matter or carbon in the soils, which costs about £15. In the future we could see carbon offsetting become an obligatory practice for many companies, with prices paid potentially increasing five to eight-fold. In the past, wind farms, solar panel facilities, and reforestation schemes were common recipients of carbon credits, but soil and farm-based carbon credits are becoming more widely used.56 “Australia, Alberta, Kenya, and California are the main countries and states now have active programs to reward on-farm carbon sequestration.” In California the only state in the US with a carbon sequestration scheme— currently the 57 value of a carbon credit is between $12 and $13. In Alberta, Canada, the reward for carbon sequestrating has gone up from between $15 and $20 in 2016 to $30 per credit in 2017. In New South Wales, 58Australia, a trail started in 2012 to give farmers incentive to manage their soil carbon. The NSW Department of Primary Industries invited farmers to submit a price they wished to be paid for changing their land management and focus it towards carbon. The average price was $37 per tonne. The measurements of soil carbon will be measured at the end of 2017, when the program is complete, however, it is expected that around 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide will be sequestered per hectare per year when cropped land is changed to managed permanent pastures.
However, measuring the actual amount of carbon sequestered in soil and plants very difficult as well as being costly and inexact. For this reason alone, farm-based approaches haven’t been involved or incorporated in carbon credit programs, as it is far easier for them to measure something quantitative. Rather than measuring the carbon sequestered on each farm, carbon credit programs are based on the average carbon sequestration ability of the practice. For example methods such as adding organic matter to the soil, planting cover crops, or reducing soil disturbance via minimum tillage.
ii. RHS in the encouragement of education:
55 http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=4c19aeed-09d0-4928-a406-1b7a3a6999bb%40sessionmgr4006&vid=1&hid=4104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=109567567&db=aqh - Jenkins, M 2015, 'Scheme pays farmers to capture carbon in their
soil', Crops, p. 47, Advanced Placement Source, EBSCOhost, viewed 17 February 2017 56 http://regenerationinternational.org/farmers-are-capitalizing-on-carbon-sequestration - Farmer, Modern and Environmental Institute. "Farmers Are Capitalizing On Carbon Sequestration: How Much Is Your Carbon-Rich Soil Worth? - Regeneration International". Regeneration International. N.p., 2016. Web. 17 Jan. 2017. 57 http://modernfarmer.com/2016/04/carbon-sequestration/ - Barth, Brian. "Farmers Are
Capitalizing On Carbon Sequestration: How Much Is Your Carbon-Rich Soil Worth? - Modern Farmer". Modern Farmer. N.p., 2016. Web. 19 Dec. 2016. 58 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-08/nswch-soil-carbon-pilot/6604358 - Manson, Skye.
"Farmers In Central West NSW Being Paid To Sequester Carbon". ABC Rural. N.p., 2015. Web. 26 Jan. 2017.
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In order to see whether gardeners as well as farmers where aware of the part they played in soil carbon sequestration I went about contacting Royal Horticultural Society. This is the UK leading gardening society and issues information to its members and the general public giving gardening advice and plant choices. Gardening societies could be the key to promote education and awareness of soil carbon sequestration amongst the general public.
I sent an email to the RHS asking them if they could give me any more information on the subject of carbon soil sequestration. I am most interested to hear whether or not they encouraged carbon soil sequestration or if particular plant types were being suggested in order to sequester more. Dear Sir/ Madam, I am a 17-year-old student in my final year at Hereford Cathedral School, and I am completing an EPQ on Soil Carbon Sequestration in the UK, with a particular focus on education and farming. As the leading gardening charity in the UK, I was wondering if you have any educational activities/programs on this subject for both schools and adult gardeners alike? I would also like to know if there are plants in particular which sequester more carbon than others? If so are you encouraging for these plants to be grown? Any advice, link or suggestion about this topic from you would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time. Regards, Caroline Lewis The response was as follows;
‘Per unit basis plants hold relatively comparable % of carbon in the tissue, but plants that are larger, perennial and/or evergreen consequently lock up carbon for longer and in greater quantities and year round. So through our advice channels we reinforce the messages about the benefits of long-lived plants such as trees as they can keep carbon locked in for tens and (some) hundreds of years. The benefits of using perennial plants (and thus not digging the soil up annually) is then also to keep carbon locked up in the soil through lack of disturbance. Additionally, we provide evidence of indirect ways to reduce carbon footprint of the garden, by minimising the use of products which have high carbon load (e.g. reducing the use of inorganic and increasing the use of organic fertilisers). You will find more detail in this document which we have produced few years ago and which I am regularly reviewing https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/pdf/climate-and-sustainability/urban-greening/gardening-matters-urban-greening It contains the scientific basis as well as some practical advice, which focuses not only on carbon, but also on other gardening activities aiming to increase gardens’ sustainability. I am also happy to have a chat with you if it would be helpful in framing your project. I do research myself on environmental impacts of gardens (so not directly on carbon, although it is implicit everywhere!), focusing on the importance of plant choice to improve the delivery of environmental benefits such as localised cooling, flood protection and removal of particulate pollutants.
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The email response was very informative and the link attached in this reply took me to an RHS PDF file regarding ‘Gardening Matter: Urban Gardens’. This article would be available to the general public and advises them to follow these guide lines as they can make a huge difference to the environment if everyone does their bit. The pages of the article describe and explain the specific benefits of temperature regulation, flood prevention, biodiversity support and other thing are talked of and concluded. The drawbacks of urban gardening are also debated. The article, co- written by Dr Tijana Blanusa who also responded to my email, mentions carbon emissions and states: ‘Gardening can contribute indirectly to carbon emissions through the consumption of manufactured and transported horticultural goods, and through the use of power tools for gardening maintenance.’ The article suggests that, due to other activities performed in gardens, overall more carbon is emitted than captured. This is the same with current farming practices, but change in traditional methods could see that reversed. It also says that the greatest problem is the fact that lawns, due to their demanding management with fertilisers and mowing can be extremely carbon costly. However, this being said, some carbon is stored in garden trees and soils are huge reservoirs of terrestrial carbon. The editorial also revealed that soils in lower- density residential urban areas, which contain more gardens, can stored over 40 percent more carbon than soils in area of commercial land use. With these findings Dr Blanusa suggested three main things:
i. That greater emphasis should be placed on protecting and building on gardens and green spaces in cities.
ii. Scientific research should share and investigate practices maximizing positive impacts on gardens.
iii. Lastly, education and training of organizations will allow the development of skills of gardeners, schoolchildren and community groups.
At the end of this article 10 factors were suggested for domestic gardeners as gardens account for about 25 percent of the land in most cities. More than 80 percent of the UK population now lives in a town or city, a difference can be made by ensuring that every available space in gardens contain a variety of plants, and that sustainable practices are used. One of the factors mentioned which particularly interested me wad the suggestion of growing perennial plants over large area. This would help capture carbon because they grow in the same place year after year, and therefore will minimize soil disturbance. This message is reinforced in their advice channels. RHS also encourage the use of organic fertilisers instead or inorganic fertilisers in order to reduce carbon emissions. The RHS response to my email only partially answered my questions, but did give me insightful information and did suggest that they do encourage soil carbon sequestration indirectly. There was no mention of which plants would sequester more carbon in the email, nor in the article, but there was indication that perennial plants cause less soil disruption as ground doesn’t need to be cultivated for new plants. In response to this email and the article, I became interested in how much the members of RHS actually knew about soil carbon sequestration and whether the message was really being spread within their community. I therefore went about sending another email to RHS
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asking them if they would be able to give the following email to their members, as a questionnaire, in order to ascertain their knowledge on this subject area. The questions were as follows:
1. Do you have a vegetable patch in your garden? 2. As a member of the royal horticultural society, do you know what is meant by carbon
sequestration? 3. Which species of plants can be planted in your garden to increase carbon
sequestration? 4. Do you know which crops may sequester more carbon? 5. Does hoeing your plant beds increase or decrease the amount of carbon released?
These questions were carefully thought out, as I did want the questions could be too specialist. I focused on short response answers, but decided not to use multiple choice as I wanted the response to be diverse and individual. However, I still needed to cover all the aspects of my project within as concise questionnaire. Unfortunately, RHS responded and informed me that I was unable to conduct the questionnaire on their members, as only bigger projects are generally accepted by the horticultural society. After discovering this information, I went on to ask four more horticultural societies for their advice. These associations were found via a website called 59 Let’s Go Gardening which had contacts with various gardening groups. I chose to contact the following clubs:
1. Perennial - Gardeners Royal Benevolent Society. I chose this society as I knew that perennial plants played a large factor in sequestrating carbon.
2. Garden organic. This society should be aware of the environment, and have useful information regarding soil carbon sequestration, and should be informing their members
3. Plants For A Future. This society should be very involved in trying to increase awareness amongst their members on plants which can make a difference for the future.
4. Royal Forestry Society. Trees play a large part in carbon sequestration, it will be interesting to find out what measures they’re taking to increase awareness and which species they recommend to increase carbon input.
Only two of the four societies responded, which was disappointing. Perennial’s response informed me that this charity didn’t have any specialists in this area, therefore suggesting that there is no research going into this topic area.
However, Garden Organic responded to my email with lots of useful and reliable information. Their organization promotes a large number of activities in order to encourage carbon soils sequestration amongst their members. They have done this by producing a booklet 60providing advice on how to grow green manures and cover crops as an alternative
59 http://www.letsgogardening.co.uk/clubs_societies.htm - Gardening & Wildlife Clubs & Societies
In The UK". Letsgogardening.co.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 14 Feb. 2017. 60 https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/sort-out-your-soil - "Sort Out Your Soil |
Www.Gardenorganic.Org.Uk". Gardenorganic.org.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 1 Mar. 2017.
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to leaving the soil bare.
Very importantly, they also wrote about encouraging people to apply compost to the soil to lock up carbon. As well as encouraging members to take part in the 61Big Biochar experiment and promoting no dig gardening, to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere
They also informed me that the plants which sequester more carbon are generally perennial plants. Trees especially will sequester more carbon than annual plants. Garden organic also told me that C4 plants, such as maize and amaranth, will be more efficient at sequestering carbon than C3 plants- wheat and potatoes. This is because C4 plants have a slightly different way of using CO2 for photosynthesis and use carbon more efficiently, but need more light so are more common in sunnier climates. Garden organic also involved schools by running activities 62 for children, however there aren’t may linked to carbon sequestration. They have an activity which is called ‘Growing potatoes without digging.’ Which I was particularly interested in as it mimics the idea of minimum tillage and direct drilling to prevent carbon exposure and release. Encouraging this among children is so important and I’m very impressed with Garden Organics’ approach to awareness and education in this subject area. CONCLUSION
During this investigation I extensively examined, using copious amount of resources, many different methods which can be used to sequester atmospheric carbon back into the earth. My lengthily research showed that the best methods are those which sequester carbon terrestrially as opposed to geologically. Terrestrial sequestration does not require the active pumping of carbon deep into the earth and therefore doesn’t use fossil fuels- which are causing climate change. Both arable methods and livestock rotation methods are very effective at sequestering carbon, however, arable methods are more efficient as these soils have much less organic matter present. If increased sequestration is encouraged amongst farmers, via the use of methods such as minimum tillage and the introduction of cover crops, there could be a significant increase in organic matter in the soil. The use of schemes, such as AR carbon and the 4 per 1000 initiative could really help farmers achieve increased organic matter levels in their crops, as it provides them with a financial incentive. It has been proven in other countries, such as California in the USA, that this type of scheme is effective. Not only should63 payments encourage farmers to sequestrate, but the benefits experienced are extensive, and sequestration should be practiced for the agricultural benefits alone. The fact that carbon is sequestered is just an added bonus for the environment. However, there are now uncertainties around this
61 http://www.bigbiocharexperiment.co.uk/ ‘The BIG BIOCHAR EXPERIMENT". The BIG BIOCHAR
EXPERIMENT. N.p., 2017. Web. 1 Mar. 2017. 62 https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/schools - "Schools Resources |
Www.Gardenorganic.Org.Uk". Gardenorganic.org.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 22 Feb. 2017. 63 https://gemreportunesco.wordpress.com/2015/12/08/education-increases-awareness-and-concern-for-the-environment/ - Report, GEM. "Education Increases Awareness And Concern For
The Environment". World Education Blog. N.p., 2015. Web. 11 Mar. 2017.
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schemes, due to Brexit, that the ‘4 per 1000’ scheme will be put in place or that the grants will be awarded to British farmers. Education will always play a huge part in increasing environmental awareness. ‘In 47 countries covered by the 2005–2008 World Values Survey, the higher a person’s level of education, the more likely he or she was to express concern for the environment. Furthermore, in the 2010-2012 World Values Survey, when forced to choose between protecting the environment versus boosting the economy, those respondents with secondary education favoured the environment more than those with less than secondary education.’ The lack of response and knowledge in the questionnaires from the young farmers obviously showed that there is not enough education, especially regarding soil carbon sequestration. If there isn’t any education or knowledge going into the farming community, then the practice of these methods for sequestering carbon cannot be expected or achieved. Due to this I looked into the UK syllabus throughout the education system, from primary school up to A- level. I found that there were no objectives regarding soil carbon sequestration. The primary school questionnaires have also proven that education plays a huge role, as the students from Hereford Cathedral Junior School provided a higher percentage of correct answers that St. Thomas Cantaloupe. This is largely because the head of science at HCJS has a PHD in biology, and provides the children with extra knowledge, especially in Biology. This impactful specialist teaching at primary school level clearly demonstrates that education is of utmost importance to increase the knowledge of carbon sequestration, and should start to be included in all syllabuses from year 7 onwards.
Education contributes to awareness and improving education across all age groups will increase awareness. However, those who are no longer in education should also be targeted. Therefore, peer to peer activities, such as the soils group I have been attending, where farmers gather and share experience in this field, need to be organized and
advertised. My research into gardening societies has shown me that there are not enough practical activities or advice or educational packs being provided to their members to increase their awareness and practice of sequestration. Awareness of carbon soil sequestration and the benefits it can have for both the farmer and the environment need be made very clear amongst the farming community as well as
the general public. I feel that the need for an increase in awareness is possibly the most important factor, as everyone, can play a part in harnessing its effects if they know how. As figure 12 shows, when applying soil carbon sequestration methods, farmers will increase their organic matter level. This in turn will increase yield due to increased
ORGANIC CONTENT INCREASED YIELD
INCREASED SEQUESTRATION
DECREASE IN GLOBAL WARMING
DECREASE IN EXTREME WEATHER- FLOODING, DROUGHT
BETTER FARMING CONDITIONS
BETTER YIELDS
Figure 12- Diagram I made to demonstrate how farmers benefit is in limitless cycle in this situation, and there will be benefits of preventing climate change.
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nutritional factors, compaction and residue. This increased residue and root mass will increase carbon sequestered into their soils, which also decreases climate change, as C02 captured and stored. Decease in climate change means less extreme weather, which is costing farmers thousand every year due to poor conditions, such as droughts and flooding. This means better conditions and better yields. My main focus, and stimulus for this project has come from my great concern for the environment and the effect we are having on it. However, I believe that carbon soil sequestration could potentially solve our climate change issue. Carbon soil sequestration is a natural, simple, large scale way of capturing atmospheric carbon. This is currently causing climate change due to the enhanced greenhouse effect. Therefore, the reduction of this damaging gas via soil carbon sequestration is of utmost importance for the good of our planet.
After extensive research, using both primary and secondary sources being assessed, I believe that if methods, education and awareness where all applied, that carbon soil sequestration could significantly slow climate change and save the planet.
