Capturing Carbon, the Soil Solution

The document examines how healthy soils in agriculture and natural ecosystems (forests, wetlands, and grasslands) can act as carbon sinks. It highlights regenerative agriculture practices, the importance of protecting peatlands and native prairies, and the role of Indigenous knowledge. However, it warns that soil sequestration cannot replace the need for greenhouse gas emission cuts and faces challenges such as measurement standardization and the risk of displacing food production.

• Agricultural soils have a global potential to sequester approximately one billion tons of carbon annually, although estimates vary based on the models and assumptions used.
• In the United States, the adoption of cover crops on all cropland could sequester more than 165 million metric tons of carbon every year; currently, only 4 percent of croplands use this practice.
• Electrification of farming operations could potentially reduce the carbon footprint of agriculture by up to 70 percent, depending on the farm type and the source of the electricity.
• U.S. forests stored over 61 billion tons of carbon in 2021, with more than half of that amount located in the soil; however, the U.S. lost 16 percent of its tree cover between 2001 and 2021, primarily in Alaska, Georgia, Alabama, and California.
• Wetlands are highly efficient carbon sinks, with peatlands accounting for half of the world's wetlands and holding up to 30 percent of global soil carbon.
• North American grasslands are severely threatened, with less than 40 percent remaining and only 4 percent of native tallgrass prairie left in the U.S.; approximately two million acres are converted to agricultural use annually in the U.S. and Canadian Great Plains.
• Soil carbon sequestration is limited by a lack of standardized measurement methods and the risk that taking land out of production to sequester carbon may drive deforestation elsewhere to meet global food demand.

APA

Climate Central (2022). Capturing Carbon, the Soil Solution. https://ccimgs-2022.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/2022Soil/2022Soil.pdf

Chicago

Climate Central. Capturing Carbon, the Soil Solution. 2022. https://ccimgs-2022.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/2022Soil/2022Soil.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Central |title=Capturing Carbon, the Soil Solution |date=October 2022 |url=https://ccimgs-2022.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/2022Soil/2022Soil.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatecentral2022capturing, author = {{Climate Central}}, title = {{Capturing Carbon, the Soil Solution}}, institution = {Climate Central}, year = {2022}, month = oct, url = {https://ccimgs-2022.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/2022Soil/2022Soil.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }