Current Biology

Shaky Ground - Selling sequestration credits is shaky, for several reasons.  1. Carbon may only move from the lower solis layers to the top foot.  2. Carbon may not stay in the ground nearly as long (a century) as the soil credit is sold for.  3. The error bars for measurements or claims are very wide, and include zero. 4. Sampling is relatively costly, so samples from a few sampled fields are combined in a computer model to estimate savings for many more unsampled fields. 5. Other lesser issues.

GT Carbon Net Loss in Forests of Canada, Amazon & Australia + Permafrost 0922

Wildfires Are Destroying California's Forest Carbon Credit Reserves 0822

Forest Fires Burn Twice as Many Trees as 2 Decades Ago 0822

No-Till May Not Be the Agricultural Panacea We Thought It Was 0822 - With no-till, more carbon is found in the top 10 cm of soil, but even less (than before) 10-60 cm down, for less carbon (0.28 to 2.29 tonnes / hectare) stored aross the whole soil profile.  Based on 144 studies over the last 50 years.  Un-tilled soil becomes compacted over time.

Methane Emissions Much More Sensitive to Global Heating than Earlier Thought 0722

Cattle Burp Methane Emissions Measured From Space for First Time 0422

DR Congo to Auction Oil Blocks in One of the World’s Largest Carbon Sinks 0522

Experts Fear These Forests Could Shift from Absorbing CO2 to Emitting It 0422

How Corn Ethanol for Biofuel Fed Climate Change 0222

Amazon Losing Far More Carbon from Forest Degradation than Deforestation 0222

Across the Boreal Forest, Scientists Are Tracking Warming’s Toll 0122

The Corn Belt’s Topsoil Loss Is Increasing Carbon Emissions, Lowering Yields 0122

The Race to Defuse Congo’s Carbon Bomb 1221

Trees in the Wetlands Emit More Methane than Researchers Thought 1221

Siberia’s Massive Wildfires Are Unlocking Extreme Carbon Pollution 0821

Fires Are Harming California’s Efforts to Curb Climate Change 0821

Soil-Science Revolution Upends Plans to Fight Climate Change 0721 - Many, more recent, studies indicate that, when soil carbon building practices (no-till, cover crops, etc.) are used, more carbon shows up in the top.  "When farmers skipped the tilling and instead drilled seeds into the ground, carbon stores grew in upper soil layers, but they disappeared from lower layers.  Most experts now believe that the practice redistributes carbon within the soil rather than increases it.”
     Moreover, that the researchers found — or, more specifically, what they didn’t find — was shocking: there were few or no long “recalcitrant” carbon molecules — the kind that don’t break down.  Almost everything seemed to be small and, in principle, digestible.

Hotter and Drier - Deforestation and Wildfires Take a Toll on the Amazon 0721

Brazil’s Amazonia, Led by Its East, Is Now a Carbon Source 0721

Nitrous Oxide, Powerful Greenhouse Gas, Is on the Rise from Ocean Dead Zones 0721

Northern Farms Are Releasing Massive Amounts of Carbon from Peat 0621

'Quick Fixes' to the Climate Crisis Risk Harming Nature 0621 e.g., trees that burn or are unsuited to where they are planted

Enormous Missing Contribution to Global Warming Is Right under Our Feet 0621 - peat

Why Indonesia’s Rice Paddy Expansion Is Raising Climate Concerns 0521 - draining peat / swamps and peat fires

The Brazilian Amazon Is Burning, Again 0621

Fish ‘Not as Carbon Friendly' as Previously Thought 0521

Trawling for Fish May Unleash as Much Carbon as Air Travel 0321

All-Amazon Greenhouse-Gas Study Suggests Forest Worsens Climate Change 0321

500+ Experts Call on World’s Nations to Not Burn Forests for Energy 0221

Net, Land Absorbs Carbon Now, but It Could Emit It in Just a Few Decades 0121

Many Overheated Forests May Soon Release More Carbon than They Absorb 0121

Human Use Has Increased Grasslands' Contribution to Climate Change 0121

Brazilian Forests Are Transitioning from Carbon Sinks to Carbon Sources 1220

Sicker Livestock Emit More Methane, Accelerating Climate Change 1020

Global Warming Could Unlock Carbon from Tropical Soil 0820

Cow Burps, Leaky Pipelines Put Earth on High-End Warming Track 0720

Siberian Fires Have Released a Record Amount of Carbon This Year 0720

Amazon Fires at 13-Year High for June 0720

‘Zombie Fires’ in the Arctic Pump Out Carbon at Record Pace 0720

Arctic Battling Climate Change and Beavers 0720 - beaver ponds mean carbon emerges as CH4 more than CO2

Frequently Dry Waterways Still Contribute to Carbon Emissions 0620

Why ‘Carbon-Cycle Feedbacks’ Could Drive Temperatures Even Higher 0420

Surge in Global Methane Emissions Traced Back to East African Wetland 1219

One California Wildfire is Spewing Enough Smoke to Rival 320,000 Cars 1019

Bigger, More Frequent Wildfires Turn Canada’s Boreal Forest into Carbon Source 0819

The Bizarre, Peaty Science of Arctic Wildfires 0719 - So far in 2019, Arctic fires have released more CO2 into the air than what Belgium emits annually.  That beats the previous ecord, set in 2004—and we’re only in June.

Arctic Wildfires Continue to Burn, Releasing Record Amounts of CO2 - 0719 - The amount of CO2 emitted from Arctic Circle fires in June 2019 is larger than all of the CO2 released from Arctic Circle fires in the same month from 2010 through to 2018 put together.

Scientists Zero in on Trees as a Surprisingly Large Source of Methane 0619

Climate Change Being Fueled by Soil Damage 0419

Worsening Algae Blooms Could Significantly Increase Global Methane Emissions 0319

2018 Articles and earlier

Why Peatlands Matter in the Battle against Climate Change 1218

The Seafloor Is Dissolving Because of Climate Change 1118

Latitudinal Limits to Predicted Increased Peatland Carbon Sink with Warming 0918

Rice Farming Up to Twice as Bad for Climate Change as Previously Thought 0918

Globally Rising Soil Heterotrophic Respiration over Recent Decades 0818 - abstract of study

Rising Temperatures Are Causing Soil to Dump More CO2 into the Air 0818 - summary of study

Why BECCS Might Not Produce ‘Negative’ Emissions after All 0818

Another Climate Change Effect Is Superheated Bugs in the Soil, Belching Carbon 0818

Tracking the Shift of Tropical Forests from Carbon Sink to Source 0718

Marine Heat Wave Set Off 'Carbon Bomb' in World's Largest Seagrass Meadow 0318

In California’s Wildfires, a Looming Threat to Climate Goals 1217

El Niño Might Speed Up Climate Change 1217

El Niño’s Warning - Satellite Shows How Forest CO2 Emissions Can Skyrocket 1017

Baltic Sea Clams 'Giving Off as Much Gas as 20,000 Cows' 1017

There’s a Climate Bomb Under Your Feet 1017

A Solution to the Atmosphere’s Methane Mystery? 0917

Volcanic Eruptions Triggered Global Warming 56 Million Years Ago 0817

Tropical Peat Forests Risk Turning from Carbon ‘Drains' to Emitters 0617

Frozen Farmers’ Fields Emit Nitrous Oxide, a Climate Change Culprit 0417

Soil Microbes Hold Key to Climate Puzzle 0317 - Complex soil ecosystems harbor carbon sinks and sources.

Small Ponds Have Big Impact on Global Warming 0217

Arctic Soils Set to Release Lots of Carbon, More than Plants Can Absorb 1216 - Global soil can release 55 billion tons of carbon by 2050.  Take 2 on study

Scientists Have Long Feared Soil Climate ‘Feedback’.  Now It’s Happening. 1116 - more than just permafrost soils - take 1

Soil Could Become Significant CO2 Contributor in Near Future 1116

Quantifying global soil carbon losses in response to warming 1116 - Abstract.  Soils lose 30± GT of carbon for 1°C warming.

How Earth Will Pay Back Our Carbon Emissions with Even More - from Peat, etc. 1016

Reservoirs Now Recognized a Key Source of Greenhouse Gas Methane 0916 - rotting vegetation drowned by reservoirs

Zombie Carbon Emissions Haunt the Planet 0716 - carbon from trees rotting that were killed by drought

Russian Wildfires Put Key Climate Change Resource at Risk 0716

These Peat Fires Are Huge, Hidden and Harmful.  What Can We Do? 0616

Fort McMurray Fire’s Stunning Pulse of Carbon to the Atmosphere 0516

To Help Curb Climate Change, Stop Wasting Food 0416

Is Climate Change Putting the World's Micro-Biomes at Risk? 0316

Indonesia's Peat Fires Make It World’s 4th-Largest Carbon Emitter 1015

Why Scientists Are So Worried about Drylands (40% of Earth’s Land) 0915

Climate Models May Misjudge Soils' Carbon Emissions 0815

Coal Renaissance Means Switching to Plan B - Carbon Pricing and CO2 Removal 0715

The Complex Relationship between Agriculture and Climate Change 0715

Dairy Straits 0415

Obama Tackles Agriculture’s Role in Climate Change - Why That’s a Big Deal 0415

Acidic Oceans Helped Fuel Greatest Extinction 0415

Is Grass-Fed Beef Really Better for You, the Animal and the Planet? 0215 - cow farts (vs sequestration from trampling soil)

Farming Now Worse For Climate Than Deforestation 0215

Climate Change Mitigation’s Best-Kept Secret - Methane 0115

Smoldering Peat Fires Pose Global Threat 0115

Squirrels and Beavers Contributing More Than Thought to Global Warming 1214

Hydropower May Be Huge Source of Methane Emissions 1014

Drowned Tropical Forests Add to Climate Change 0914

Warning over Vulnerability of Soil Carbon to Warming 0914

Greenhouse Gas Fear over Increased Meat Eating 0814

Measuring Cow and Pig Emissions Goes to New Heights 0714

Peatland Fires Biggest Contributor to Carbon Emissions 0514

Are Gassy Cattle a Bigger Problem Than US Government Thought? 1113

Wasted Food is World's 3rd-Biggest Carbon Emitter, after China and US 0913

Global Methane Releases Could Be Wetlands or Wellheads 0913

Tropical Ecosystems Boost Carbon Dioxide as Temperatures Rise 0713

Global Warming at Your Doorstep - Lawns 0513 

Wild Weather Can Send GHGs Spiraling 0413  

Earthworms Increase Soils’ GHG Emissions, Take 2 0313  

Earthworms Increase Soils’ GHG Emissions 0213  

Black Soot Warms 2nd Only to CO2 0113  

Food May Cause Almost 33% of GHG Emissions 1012

Aquatic Dead Zones Contributing to Climate Change 0310 

Wetlands 11K Yr Ago Raised Carbon in Air 0409 - PDF

Disasters Up 4x in 20 Years 1207

World's Plants and Soils to Switch from Carbon Sink to Source by 2100 - 0415  - Limits to other nutrients are important.

     Maps of carbon storage on land. Upper map shows historical levels of storage (1860-69).

     Lower map shows model projections of the change in storage by 2100 as a result of nitrogen and phosphorus limits, under a high emissions scenario (RCP8.5). Source: Wieder et al. (2015). 

Pg = billion tons (GT).  Fossil fuel emissions to date are 300-400 GT (Pg).

     Change in land carbon storage projections from CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) models, under a high emissions scenario (RCP8.5). Coloured lines show average model projection for no nutrient constraints (black), limits to nitrogen (red), and limits to nitrogen and phosphorus (blue). Box plots on right-hand side show range in model results. Source: Wieder et al. (2015). 

Section Map: Carbon Emissions

Current Biology

Losing Forests