Environment

Fighting air pollution could affect soil carbon stocks and contribute to climate change

Distribution of study sites across the geographic range of northern hardwood forests in Michigan, USA. These locations were selected because of their similar flora and inflorescence characteristics. Credit: Ecology (2024). DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4444

Decades-old policies aimed at improving air quality may also be accelerating global climate change, a recent study published in the journal Ecology warns.

For generations, atmospheric nitrogen pollution has entered ecosystems in a process called deposition, leading to increased carbon stocks in soils around the world (among many other effects). . However, since the 1970s, multilateral agreements targeting air pollution have come into force, and nitrogen deposition rates have declined. Now, nearly 30 years of data from a long-term nitrogen deposition experiment in Michigan suggests that improvements in air quality are rapidly reversing carbon gains in soils.

As nitrogen pollution from the atmosphere decreases, soil microbial activity increases, accelerating decomposition and reducing the amount of carbon retained and stored in the soil. The authors say a decline in soil’s ability to act as a carbon sink could undermine efforts to mitigate climate warming, especially if similar patterns are repeated in forest systems across the planet.

Further information: Brooke E. Propson et al, Increased soil carbon storage under anthropogenic nitrogen deposition is rapidly lost after its cessation, Ecology (2024). DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4444

Provided by Ecological Society of America

Citation: Fighting air pollution could contribute to climate change by affecting soil carbon storage (November 7, 2024) https://phys.org/news/2024-11-air- Retrieved November 7, 2024 from pollution-contribute-climate-impacting. html

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