Good Dirt can Save the World

Recently someone asked me what carbon sequestering meant. I kind of knew but I was a bit fuzzy on the details. I found this paper written by Dr. Christine Jones, Founder of Australian Soil Carbon Accreditation Scheme. She writes:

Building soil carbon
"How does the gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), become sequestered as soil carbon? The ‘way in’ for soil carbon is the process of photosynthesis in green leaves. In this process, plants use the energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen, ‘essentials’ for most other life on the planet. Each molecule of glucose formed in green leaves sequesters six molecules of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Plants use this glucose to make a wide variety of other carbon compounds, many of which are translocated to roots.
The cheapest, most efficient and most beneficial form of organic carbon for soil is exudation from the actively growing roots of green plants. Organic carbon additions are governed by the surface area of plant roots per unit of soil, the rate of growth of new roots and the degree of association with symbioticor associative microflora such as mycorrhizal fungi. The more active, fibrous plant roots and rhizosphere microflora there are, the more carbon will be exuded into the soil matrix and, mostimportantly, humified. The decomposition of plant roots can also be an important source of carbon in some soils."
The more activity going on at the soil surface and below the better the soil is at holding water, sequestering carbon, bringing in atmospheric nitrogen through nodules and giving health to the plants. This can only happen in a sustainable way when the soil surface is protected from excessively drying out and not doused with chemicals.
So bottom line: Plant, plant plant. Never let soil be bare and don't burn plants to clear stuff away. For more on this here is a link : http://www.amazingcarbon.com/