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2025.01.23
Global-warming-induced alterations in precipitation patterns can influence carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from soils. A new study, conducted by the Nuclear Science and Engineering Center, in collaboration with Niigata University and Kyushu University, reveals that soil drying and rewetting cycles largely increase CO2 emission from soils.
Increasing the atmospheric CO2 concentration causes global warming and alters the global water cycling and precipitation patterns. Extreme heavy rainfall and extended drought are often observed around the world, which intensify soil drying and rewetting cycles and influence the decomposition of soil organic carbon and consequently the CO2 emission from soils. Since the CO2 emission from the world’s soils is estimated to be about 5 times the amount of CO2 emission from human activities, even a small change in CO2 emission from soils could significantly impact the Earth’s climate system. The research team studied overall trends in the effects of soil drying and rewetting cycles on the CO2 emission by conducting an 84-day laboratory incubation experiment using 10 Japanese forest and pastureland soils. They found a 1.3 to 3.7-fold increase in CO2 emission due to drying and rewetting cycles across all soils. Furthermore, they analyzed relations between the increasing magnitude of CO2 emission and soil properties, and suggested that the increase in CO2 emission occurred mainly through destructions of microbial cells and organo-mineral complexes during drying and rewetting cycles. The findings of this study have important implications for understanding the climate–carbon cycle feedback and for improving the ability to predict the future of Earth’s climate.
The results of this study have been published in “SOIL,” an international scientific journal issued by the European Geoscience Union, on January 16, 2025.
Article information: https://soil.copernicus.org/articles/11/35/2025/
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