Climate change: Warming soils may intensify Earth's temperatures, warn scientists

(Representational image)

New Delhi: At a time when climate change has the world in a tight grip, a recent study has issued a warning saying that, warming soils are releasing more carbon, thus creating a dangerous feedback loop that could further increase the temperature of Earth than estimated.

Most of the research regarding climate change and its effects are done at atmospheric level with a thorough analysis and use advanced techniques.

This particular analysis is based on 26 years of observational research that took place in a hardwood forest in Massachusetts, where researchers have been artificially heating certain sections of soil to see the effects.

Measuring how atmospheric warming helps carbon dioxide escape Earth was the main purpose of this experiment.

The analysis of the results of the study has revealed that the warm dirt has accelerated the catastrophe of global warming.

According to The TeCake, scientists explained that when the Earth heats up, or its temperature rises, microbes in the soil accelerate the breakdown of organic materials and move on to others that may have once been ignored, each time releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The team from the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Massachusetts, the University of Massachusetts, and the University of New Hampshire informed that the rising temperatures cause a two-stage cycle where carbon output increases for several years then levels off – probably due to soil microbes adjusting to the warmer conditions.

However, after those readjustments, the carbon released by the soil again rises. The more the soil warms up, the more carbon it releases to the atmosphere which increases the temperature of Earth. And then, the more the atmosphere heats up, it results in more heating of soil and once again more carbon leaks.