Everyone who cares about the planet and is worried about global warming needs to see this! Here is the EASIEST way to address global warming. Take carbon from the air and put it back into the Earth. How? With plants, primarily GRASS! Plants consume carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, put oxygen (O2) back into the air, and produce plant material, including roots. When the roots decay, the carbon stays in the earth to improve the soil. If left to decay on the ground, plant stems, branches, leaves, etc. also build the soil. It's an all-around gain.
Maybe this is the ONLY thing that will work in the short time we have left to lower atmospheric CO2 back to pre-industrial levels.
Finding new energy sources is, of course, a very high priority. REDUCING the carbon which has already been released into the atmosphere back down to below 350 ppm (parts per million) is a huge challenge, since we are already at 455e (e=ppm of CO2 plus equivalents) and rising.
(For links to more in-depth information about Global Warming and related issues, go to the bottom of this posting.)
With grass plus grazing animals, we could do it!
One of the most effective ways of sequestering carbon from the atmosphere back into the ground is through pasture GRASS that is used as a food source for ruminant animals, like cows. What makes the difference is properly MANAGING where the livestock graze.
(For more about the importance and value of COWS, see blog postings about Raw Milk.)
Over 50% Comes From Atmospheric Carbon
Here is an excerpt from the article at the end of this posting from Mongabay.com. He is saying that over half the physical material of a tree, comes from carbon in the atmosphere, not from the soil. Presumably, the same is true with grass.
Mongabay: How does one restore carbon to the Earth?
Lovell: By actively mimicking nature and thereby allowing natural cycles to reinvigorate. Arid and semi-arid grazing lands co-evolved with massive herds of grazing animals that were kept bunched up by the presence of pack-hunting predators. When humans removed these predators and fenced in the animals we severely disrupted this natural behaviour leading directly to desertification and massive release of soil carbon into atmospheric circulation. The process that actually removes CO2 from atmospheric circulation is photosynthesis. A simple question for anyone — think of the biggest plant you have ever seen — it is probably a huge tree more than 50 metres tall, 10 metres around and weighing hundreds of tonnes. You can walk up to this tree and hit it — it is solid. Where did the material come from to make this tree? Far too many people answer — "from the ground the tree is growing in". The truth is that over 50% of the solid "thumpable" bit of the tree came directly out of the atmosphere as CO2. While a tree is much more visible than grass, the result is the same.
Go to the Soil Carbon Case Studies powerpoint presentation. It is a fabulous illustration of how this works and what is possible. Even desert land CAN be restored to productivity. Water supplies CAN be increased. Wildlife CAN return. At the same time, livestock businesses CAN be INCREASINGLY profitable, producing HEALTHIER ANIMALS and HEALTHIER FOOD for people.
Below the Soil Carbon information is the Mongabay.com article
Sandra
http://www.soilcarbon.com.au/
The Solution That Offers Immediate Impact on Global Warming
THE PROBLEM: An increase in carbon dioxide levels in the air, contributing to global warming.
THE SIMPLE SOLUTION: Put the carbon back in the earth where it belongs. Degraded soils can store up to 5 times more organic carbon in their surface layers than they currently hold if the soil management approach changes. Through the application of these types of management methods, Soil Carbon Australia can make an impact on global warming.
THE NATURAL SOLUTION: Carbon is naturally sequested in topsoil via biological processes surrounding actively growing roots of pasture grasses and cereals. Encouraging these processes is cheap, efficient, and ecologically beneficial.
THE ACHIEVABLE SOLUTION: Soil carbon levels can be increased by adopting forms of carbon farming, including time-controlled grazing management, pasture cropping and biologically beneficial farming practices.
Soil Carbon Case Studies
The following are actual Soil Carbon case studies and further information.
Please note: File sizes may take some time to download on dial-up connections.
Slideshow is available in other languages from soilcarbon.com.au.
PPS Slideshow in English (3.4Mb)
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Image and text excerpted from the article below from Mongabay.com. The article uses images and information from Soil Carbon.
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This simple picture says it all if we allow the grasses to express themselves to the stage shown on the right they absorb CO2 from atmospheric circulation and turn it into plant material. We then manage our grazing animals to eat the grass down to the level somewhere between the middle 2 grass plants. At this point the reduced leaf mass is unable to support the large root mass, and so the plant sloughs off the now excess root material (carbon). The plant then commences to regrow but critically it regrows using carbon absorbed by photosynthesis, not the carbon it previously sloughed off. Repeat this process and you in essence "pump" CO2 out of the atmosphere and store it underground.
Restoring soil carbon can reverse global warming, desertification and biodiversity loss
Restoring the ability of soil to store carbon by promoting native grasses and vegetation can help reverse global warming, desertification and biodiversity loss, says an Australian researcher.
Land use change — including deforestation, bush fires, and soil degradation — accounts for roughly 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, but land management practices can be used to reduce emissions. While reforestation and avoided deforestation have garnered a lot of attention of late, restoration of other forms of vegetation can dramatically increase the capacity of degraded landscapes to store carbon.
Tony Lovell of Soil Carbon P/L in Australia estimates that by actively supporting regrowth of vegetation in damaged ecosystems, billions of tons of carbon dioxide can be sequestered from the atmosphere.
In February 2008, Lovell discussed the potential of soil carbon restoration.
Mongabay: What are the advantages of increasing the capacity of soil to store carbon?
Lovell:
 In arid and seasonally dry areas, continuous grazing creates disasters like that on the left. Returning to herding-style management with long recovery periods between grazings heals the land (right) |
Determining how much carbon dioxide (CO2) can physically be consumed from the atmosphere?
 LEFT: This river in Zimbabwe used to flow year-round. Then overgrazing by wandering livestock bared much of the soil in the surrounding area. Today the river flows only as flash floods following heavy rains. Biodiversity loss is severe, livestock are starving, and most wildlife has disappeared. RIGHT: This nearby river had similar problems. It now has water year-round, and flows during most of the year. Drought is rare, biodiversity is increasing, and wildlife has reappeared in large numbers. Soil Carbon P/L notes that capturing just 1 mm more rain per year means: 1 liter more usable water per square meter; 10,000 liters more water per hectare; 1,000,000 liters more water per square kilometer; Less drought, because more water stays in the soil to recharge rivers, springs, and wells; and more forage, because plants can also use that water. |
Consumption of CO2 per hectare
One hectare is 10,000 sq. metres. If a hectare of soil 33.5 cm deep, with a bulk density of 1.4 tonnes per cubic metre is considered, there is a soil mass per hectare of about 4,700 tonnes.
- If appropriate management practices were adopted and these practices achieved and sustained a 1% increase in soil organic matter (SOM)6, then 47 tonnes of SOM per hectare will be added to organic matter stocks held below the soil surface
- This 47 tonnes of SOM will contain approximately 27 tonnes of Soil Carbon (ie 47 tonnes at 58% Carbon) per hectare
- In the absence of other inputs this Carbon may only be derived from the atmosphere via the natural function known as the photo-synthetic process. To place approximately 27 tonnes of Soil Carbon per hectare into the soil, approximately 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide must be consumed out of the atmosphere by photosynthesis
- A 1% change in soil organic matter across 5 billion hectares will sequester 500 billion tonnes of physical CO2
- Every 1% increase in retained SOM within the topmost 33.5 cm of the soil must capture and hold approximately 100 tonnes per hectare of atmospheric carbon dioxide (the variability in the equation being due only to the soil bulk density). We submit that under determined, appropriate management, that this is readily achievable within a very few years
- For each 1% increase in SOM achieved on the 5 billion hectares there will be removed 64 ppm of carbon dioxide from atmospheric circulation (500,000,000,000 tonnes CO2 / 7,800,000,000 tonnes per ppm = 64 ppm).
- Soil Organic Matter is the plant material released into the soil during the natural phases of plant growth. It includes root material sloughed off below the soil surface and plant litter carried into the soil by microbes, insects and rainfall
- Soil Carbon is the elemental carbon contained within Soil Organic Matter (SOM).
- One tonne of CO2 contains 12/44 units of carbon (ie 0.27 tonnes of carbon per tonne of CO2.). Therefore 27 tonnes of carbon sequesters 27/0.27 = 100 tonnes CO2 (rounded). NB Carbon atomic weight 12, oxygen atomic weight 16 ie CO2 = 12+(16+16) = 44
 TOP: This cattle ranch in Sonora, Mexico, is typical of hundreds of millions of hectares of grazing land in arid and seasonally dry areas worldwide. BOTTOM: This is the neighboring ranch, La Inmaculada. The ranch is in the same area; has the same rainfall, same soils, and same plant species. The pictures were taken on the same day and La Inmaculada actually has more cattle than the drier ranch. The only difference between the two is management |
Mongabay: How does one restore carbon to the Earth?
Lovell: By actively mimicking nature and thereby allowing natural cycles to reinvigorate. Arid and semi-arid grazing lands co-evolved with massive herds of grazing animals that were kept bunched up by the presence of pack-hunting predators. When humans removed these predators and fenced in the animals we severely disrupted this natural behaviour leading directly to desertification and massive release of soil carbon into atmospheric circulation. The process that actually removes CO2 from atmospheric circulation is photosynthesis. A simple question for anyone — think of the biggest plant you have ever seen — it is probably a huge tree more than 50 metres tall, 10 metres around and weighing hundreds of tonnes. You can walk up to this tree and hit it — it is solid. Where did the material come from to make this tree? Far too many people answer — "from the ground the tree is growing in". The truth is that over 50% of the solid "thumpable" bit of the tree came directly out of the atmosphere as CO2. While a tree is much more visible than grass, the result is the same.
The global opportunity and numbers
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Mongabay: What does Soil Carbon Australia offer?
Lovell: Our main focus is on raising awareness of the important role soil carbon plays in mitigating global warming, and ideally on having it recognized as a tradeable item under any global emissions trading scheme. This will dramatically change the incentives that farmers respond to and thus bring about a massive positive change in agricultural practices.
Mongabay: Where are you working?
Lovell: We are based in Australia, and have colleagues in the USA, New Zealand, Spain, England, South Africa and South America.
Mongabay: Have you looked at the potential to earn carbon credits for sequestration?
Lovell: Yes — it is widely recognized and accepted that soil carbon sequestration works — the only questions are ones of measurement, monitoring and verification (MMV). We as a society have dealt with these MMV issues in regards to afforestation and deforestation so should be able to do so with regards to soil carbon.
Mongabay: Are you familiar with "terra preta" soils in the Amazon? If so, how does your process compare with this form of soil carbon?
Lovell: "terra preta" is probably the best example of just what we are talking about — a carbon rich, biologically active soil created as a result of appropriate human management. In the 5 billion hectares we want to bring attention to the results will not be as dramatic due to the lower rainfall and inherently poorer quality of the soils themselves, but the results will be significant and well worthwhile.
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For more information:
-- Read the latest reports on global warming here: Is Global Warming for Real?
-- If you haven't watched it yet, be sure to view the exciting slide presentation at this post about soil carbon sequestration. A picture really is worth a thousand words! Putting Carbon Back Where It Belongs - In the Earth
-- Read about the environmental benefits of grassfarming here Grassfarming Can Help to Reverse Global Warming, and here Reversing Global Climate Change with Holistic Management
-- Read about how cows can be part of the global warming solution, and dispel some common myths about cows and methane. U.N. Blames Cows for Global Warming -- Unjustly
-- Read about the battle over raw milk here.
-- Read about the environmental benefits of grassfarming here Grassfarming Can Help to Reverse Global Warming, and here Reversing Global Climate Change with Holistic Management
-- Read about how cows can be part of the global warming solution, and dispel some common myths about cows and methane. U.N. Blames Cows for Global Warming -- Unjustly
-- Read about the battle over raw milk here.
-- Go to www.factoryfarm.org to learn more about confinement animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Be sure to watch The Meatrix.
-- Go to my blog posting about soy, to learn about the health hazards associated with the consumption of soy foods. A tremendous amount of information about soy is available through the Weston A. Price Foundation, among others.
-- Learn more about Monsanto. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Monsanto%27s+harvest+of+fear&btnG=Google+Search
Monsanto's Harvest of Fear By Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele Vanity Fair. May 2008 Issue. Monsanto already dominates America's food chain with its genetically modified seeds ...
-- Read about the Clintons and their ties to Monsanto at Our Food, Monsanto & the Clintons.
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