There exists a continuous cross-talk between climate change and soil carbon sequestration processes, and how the latter affects communities’ capability to adapt to the effects of a changing climate. While technology-assisted anthropogenic activities help to improve the production of material goods and the general quality of life, they have been linked to elevated production of Green House Gases (GHGs) and their ultimate emission into the atmosphere. Scientific reports show, for example, that before the climate changed, temperatures were relatively lower and optimal for plant growth. Rainfall levels and distribution were also favourable, and consequently the forces that replenish soil nutrients and soil carbon from atmospheric stocks were in check. As climate change progressively intensified, temperatures and rainfall patterns changed for the worse, the quality of soil deteriorated and agricultural productivity decreased. Climate change has disrupted the balance of the carbon concentrations between the soil and the atmosphere as the two largest carbon pools in the universe. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations have risen from approximately 280 parts per million (ppm) prior to 1850, to 414.72 ppm in 2021. Communities, therefore, need to adapt to the effects of the changing climate by embracing efforts that lead to a reversal of the deteriorating trend in soil degradation and carbon balance between the soil and the atmosphere. In this chapter, we highlight the factors that enhance communities’ and agricultural systems’ adaptability to climate by promoting efforts to make use of soil carbon sequestration. We suggest that to be able to replenish SOC stocks in agro-ecosystems, there is a need to adopt a combination of practices that help to capture and store C in plants and soils, and those that enhance carbon stabilization in soils, hence effectively reducing the GHG emissions into the atmosphere.

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Climate Change Adaptability and Soil Carbon Sequestration

  • Hamisi Juma Tindwa,
  • Ernest William Semu

摘要

There exists a continuous cross-talk between climate change and soil carbon sequestration processes, and how the latter affects communities’ capability to adapt to the effects of a changing climate. While technology-assisted anthropogenic activities help to improve the production of material goods and the general quality of life, they have been linked to elevated production of Green House Gases (GHGs) and their ultimate emission into the atmosphere. Scientific reports show, for example, that before the climate changed, temperatures were relatively lower and optimal for plant growth. Rainfall levels and distribution were also favourable, and consequently the forces that replenish soil nutrients and soil carbon from atmospheric stocks were in check. As climate change progressively intensified, temperatures and rainfall patterns changed for the worse, the quality of soil deteriorated and agricultural productivity decreased. Climate change has disrupted the balance of the carbon concentrations between the soil and the atmosphere as the two largest carbon pools in the universe. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations have risen from approximately 280 parts per million (ppm) prior to 1850, to 414.72 ppm in 2021. Communities, therefore, need to adapt to the effects of the changing climate by embracing efforts that lead to a reversal of the deteriorating trend in soil degradation and carbon balance between the soil and the atmosphere. In this chapter, we highlight the factors that enhance communities’ and agricultural systems’ adaptability to climate by promoting efforts to make use of soil carbon sequestration. We suggest that to be able to replenish SOC stocks in agro-ecosystems, there is a need to adopt a combination of practices that help to capture and store C in plants and soils, and those that enhance carbon stabilization in soils, hence effectively reducing the GHG emissions into the atmosphere.