On Jan 31, 2008, at 7:54 AM, Don Bowen KI6DIU wrote:
As long as the carbon stays below the level of oxygen in the
soil. Microbes eat the carbon and emit CO2. There is a balance
between
CO2 production by decay and carbon production by plant growth.
Right. Apparently there is what I guess might be called a "dead zone"
where carbon does in fact sit in limbo due to lack of oxygen, at a
level below typical agricultural activity. It is this area that has
some people exited about the possibility of carbon sequestration.
It's a lovely idea and I wish it could be proved true. High-organic-
content soil is good for many reasons: erosion resistance,
microorganism health, drainage, oxygen pathways, and not least, plant
food production. We who have been gardening this way for a long time
know the benefits and wish that industrial agriculture would use it.
Alas, even if agribusiness embraced the concept, I doubt that the
condition can be optimized to the point of affecting global
temperature control.