That this is even being discussed as a serious possibility shows how quickly the carbon cycle has gone from what seems to many to be an arcane science to securing a place in the world's economic and political arena. All this happened recently when soil carbon entered the debate over international agreements about greenhouse gases. Web sites have already appeared, offering to trade credits on stored soil carbon just as air pollution credits are currently traded worldwide. All the hubbub comes from the fact that soils, through plants, can capture carbon from industrial carbon dioxide emissions and reduce atmospheric levels of this greenhouse gas. Even if fears of global warming prove unfounded, there would be no regrets about stockpiling carbon in our soils.
Soil carbon has so many other benefits that it seems priceless.
For starters, soil carbon is what made our prairie soils so black and fertile. It helps soil retain more water and nutrients and helps soil hold together, making it better able to resist erosion by rain or snowmelt. This makes soil more productive and able to support bigger and better crops at the lowest possible economic cost to farmers. So it wouldn't hurt to stockpile a couple of hundred million tons of carbon in U.S. farm and rangeland soils and bring the land closer to what it was centuries ago. Ronald Follett leads the team from Fort Collins, Colorado, and is a co-editor of two books that discuss this potential.