Frozen Soil Carbon and Its Impact on Climate Change

The vulnerability of soil carbon to warming is one of the largest sources of uncertainty in the projection of future climate change. If, in a warmer world, bacteria decompose organic soil matter faster, releasing carbon dioxide, this will set up a positive feedback loop, speeding up global warming. According to recent estimates the global mass of soil carbon needs to be revised upwards by a frightening amount: from 2,500 billion tonnes to more than 4,000 billion tonnes.