Soil Science Education and the 'Age of Money': Reflections and Concerns for the Near Future

摘要

Soils are major players in the environment. Globally, they store more than twice as much carbon as do vegetation or the atmosphere; they contain the equivalent of about 300 times the amount of carbon now released annually through the burning of fossil fuels. Recent evidence suggests that soil carbon reserves are decreasing in several parts of the world at a much faster rate than anticipated. This is generating concern that the degassing of soils could lead to a dramatic acceleration of global warming. Concurrently, there is the possibility that large amounts of organic and inorganic contaminants, now retained by soil organic matter, may become mobilized and end up in aquifers or the oceans. At this juncture, little is known about what the future may have in store relative to any of these processes. Some computer models predict the degassing of surface soils within less than 50 years, whereas other models predict soils to act as important CO_2 sinks for many decades to come.