Size, distribution, and vulnerability of the global soil inorganic carbon

Yuanyuan Huang, Xiaodong Song, Ying Ping Wang, Josep G. Canadell, Yiqi Luo, Philippe Ciais, Anping Chen, Songbai Hong, Yugang Wang, Feng Tao, Wei Li, Yiming Xu, Reza Mirzaeitalarposhti, Heba Elbasiouny, Igor Savin, Dmitry Shchepashchenko, Raphael A. Viscarra Rossel, Daniel S. Goll, Jinfeng Chang, Benjamin Z. HoultonHuayong Wu, Fei Yang, Xiaoming Feng, Yongzhe Chen, Yu Liu, Shuli Niu, Gan Lin Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Scopus citations

Abstract

Global estimates of the size, distribution, and vulnerability of soil inorganic carbon (SIC) remain largely unquantified. By compiling 223,593 field-based measurements and developing machine-learning models, we report that global soils store 2305 ± 636 (±1 SD) billion tonnes of carbon as SIC over the top 2-meter depth. Under future scenarios, soil acidification associated with nitrogen additions to terrestrial ecosystems will reduce global SIC (0.3 meters) up to 23 billion tonnes of carbon over the next 30 years, with India and China being the most affected. Our synthesis of present-day land-water carbon inventories and inland-water carbonate chemistry reveals that at least 1.13 ± 0.33 billion tonnes of inorganic carbon is lost to inland-waters through soils annually, resulting in large but overlooked impacts on atmospheric and hydrospheric carbon dynamics.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)233-239
Number of pages7
JournalScience
Volume384
Issue number6692
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 12 2024
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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