Bad soil because of the greenhouse effect

The greenhouse effect is changing the structure of organic matter in soil at the molecular level, causing soil quality to decrease, while increasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

'Soil contains twice as much carbon as the atmosphere. But scientists have never looked at this huge amount of carbon so far, 'said Myrna J. Simpson, professor of environmental chemistry at the University of Toronto Scarborough (Canada).

Before the Myrna study, the scientific community did not know much about the structure of soil at the molecular level. Partly because the land has so many components that it is difficult to analyze. Myrna's group uses nuclear magnetic resonance techniques (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) to study the molecular structure of soil. They took the machine to the valley behind Toronto Scarborough University to conduct the test. They use electrodes to raise the soil temperature to 3-6 degrees Celsius during the winter and summer. Testing took place over 14 months.

According to Myrna, organic matter helps soil become fertile and able to feed plants. Both of these factors are extremely important for agriculture. Organic matter keeps water in the soil and prevents erosion. Natural decomposition processes of organic matter provide energy and water for plants and microorganisms. Carbon, a by-product of those processes, is released into the atmosphere. The higher the temperature of the atmosphere, the stronger the activity of decomposing organic matter and the greater the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere.

'From an agricultural perspective, we cannot continue to lose carbon in the soil because that situation will change soil fertility and speed up erosion. We also need to understand what will happen to carbon in the ground when microorganisms work harder under high temperature ', Myrna said.