Special Report: Fight against Global
Warming
BRUSSELS, Mar. 5 (Xinhua) -- A report of the European Commission warns that
poor management of the soil can have serious consequences on climate change.
Soils in the European Union (EU) are an enormous carbon reservoir,
containing between 73 and 79 billion tons. Almost 50 percent of this carbon is
sequestered in the peat bogs of Sweden, Finland, Britain and Ireland, says the
report, which was published on Thursday.
Even a tiny 0.1 percent of carbon emitted into the atmosphere from EU soils
is the equivalent to the carbon emission of 100 million extra cars on the roads
-- an increase of about half of the existing car fleet, says the report.
The most realistic option to maintain and improve soil carbon stocks is to
protect these soils, particularly the peat bogs, concludes the report.
Pristine peat lands covering a surface area of around 310,000 square
kilometers -- an area equivalent to half of France -- have now been lost to
agriculture, forestry, urbanization or erosion and more than half of the
remaining areas are also being drained, it notes.
Agricultural practices also need to be improved to minimize carbon losses,
says the report.
Good practices, such as ensuring that soils are protected against water and
rain with a permanent vegetation cover, less intrusive ploughing techniques and
less machinery, could sequester between 50 and 100 million tons of carbon
annually in EU soils.
Land conversions from grassland and forest to croplands should be halted as
carbon is lost from soils when grasslands, managed forestlands or native
ecosystems are converted to croplands. But the report points out this may
conflict with growing food demand.
"Properly managed soils can absorb enormous quantities of carbon from the
atmosphere, buying us valuable time to reduce emissions and move toward
sustainability. But Europe's soils urgently need better protection, and the
answer must be a coordinated solution," said EU Environment Commissioner Stavros
Dimas.
