According to the latest edition of research*eu,  soils are suffering the consequences of climate change in terms of erosion and dryness. Evolving temperatures and humidity are disrupting soil composition and behaviour. Soils themselves are also contributing to these atmospheric mechanisms. By overexploiting the soil, humans are triggering a time bomb with an uncertain detonation schedule.

Alongside efforts to limit global warming, a research project called ECOSSE (3) is studying greenhouse gas (GHG)  fluxes between the soil and the atmo sphere in areas of Scotland and Wales with very high carbon stocks. In its March 2007 report, the project showed that land use is responsible for approximately 5% of total GHG emissions from these regions.

According to the research, changes in land use over the past 25 years are just as much to blame as climate change. Thus a second strand of ECOSSE aims to test farming practices that reduce the amount of tillage required for sowing. At European level also, the debate now centres on which techniques to prioritise, with some subsidies being made conditional upon the use of these techniques.

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