Greenhouse gas threat from soil

Deeply buried organic soil, rich in ancient carbon from fire ash and vegetation, poses a previously unrecognised greenhouse gas threat, say scientists.

Disturbance of the soils through erosion, agriculture, deforestation, mining, and other human activities risks releasing the carbon into the atmosphere, they claim.

Formed thousands of years ago, the soil layers lie many feet below the present day Earth’s surface and until now have largely been ignored.