Soil study finds “flaw” in climate change models

Citation

(2010), "Soil study finds “flaw” in climate change models", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 21 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq.2010.08321dab.003

Soil study finds “flaw” in climate change models

Article Type: News From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 21, Issue 4

A study by Finnish scientists has concluded that standard measurements underestimate the effect of climate warming on emissions from the soil, suggesting a “flaw” in existing climate change models, according to the Finnish Environment Institute.

Noting that CO2 emissions from soil are already known to be ten times higher than those produced by fossil carbon, the authors say standard measurements used in climate models are based on carbon compounds that decompose quickly but are not abundant in soil.

But radiocarbon measurements focusing on more slowly decomposing compounds, which “are much more sensitive to the rise of temperature and … are abundant in the soil”, show that CO2 emissions can be up to 50 per cent higher than in current scenarios. The error is sufficiently significant to call for a revision of climate models, the authors say. “The sensitivity of the soil carbon storage to climatic warming will endanger the carbon sink capacity of forests in the future”, they conclude.