PUBLIC MARKS from paleorthid with tag "global warming"

The North Dakota Farmers Union has successfully started a national Carbon Credit Program. It allows ag producers and landowners to earn income by storing carbon in their soil through no-till crop production and longterm grass seeding practices. There are also forestry (tree planting) and methane offset (manure digester) contracts. Forestry and methane contracts are available nationwide and have no enrollment date. Soil offset contracts are limited to established enrollment areas. (article includes map). Soil carbon characterization studies are needed to expand the enrollment areas.

Research shows that invasive earthworms are damaging forest soils and are a menace to species diversity. The problem is most often associated with formerly glaciated regions, where native populations of earthworms are not present. Comparing soil in front of the invaders to post invasion conditions demonstrates that these worms cause soil compaction, reduced soil fertility, and increased erosion. It appears that these invaders are capable of alterations deep enough into the soil profile to result in a change in soil taxonomic classification at the order level. Other concerns are damage to rhizosphere functions, impairing soil carbon sequestration capacity.

The article highlights some important nuances. Terra mulata, the lighter type of terra preta, covers much more area than the celebrated black type central to the concept of terra preta.

comment: heartburn over an expectation that the scientific community has promoted that leads us to believe that we can create a significant, persistent sink of carbon by using established farming and forestry approaches.

The Carbon Coalition started out among growers in the Central West Catchment Management Authority's Farm Systems training program in New South Wales and is expanding to cover Australia and other parts of the globe. The Coalition is a not-for-profit organisation that runs like a business, with the express aim of securing a central role for soil carbon in the credit trading schemes emerging around Greenhouse Gas Emissions abatement. Co-convenors are the Kiely family, woolgrowers from Goolma, NSW.