Happy Earth Day 2020

Appropriately the theme for Earth Day 2020 is Climate Action. Whilst we need to keep our distance from each other at this time, the focus is on the power of digital media. Looking in the dictionary (online version) Earth is given the definition of “the planet on which we live”. Underneath this is another definition, “Earth is the substance on the land surface of the earth, for example clay or sand, in which plants grow”.

As time away from home is restricted, on my daily trip out for a walk or run I notice the soils exposed in ditch banks, sheep scrapes and foundation excavations. This thin layer, maybe only a few centimetres thick, supports around 95% of our food production; we are simply dependent on soils for our existence. And importantly, soils are also key to the actions we must take to both adapt to a changing climate as well as mitigate for our activities which are driving climate change.

Soils store more than three times the carbon present in the atmosphere, in both organic and inorganic forms. Have a look at resources such as Scotland’s Soils (published by the Scottish Government at https://map.environment.gov.scot/Soil_maps/?layer=10) and the UK Soil Observatory (https://ukso.org/static-maps/soils-of-england-and-wales.html) which include mapping of topsoil carbon concentrations and you will quickly understand the scale of the soil carbon resource just in organic soils in the UK and the particular importance of our uplands.

Our management of the land, for example agricultural cultivation, draining of peatlands, stripping of soils for new housing and infrastructure developments and soil compaction resulting from machinery or livestock increasing rates of topsoil erosion all negatively affect this store of carbon, reducing the amount in soils and increasing the amount in the atmosphere. Some estimate that the world’s cultivated soils have lost between 50 and 70% of their original carbon content.

Whilst we must focus on the health of the carbon-rich soils, all soils are important and play their part in the overall carbon storage potential, and this includes soils under intensive agriculture and our urban soils, those in our gardens, parks, road verges, sports pitches and so on. And if land management activities have resulted in a depletion of soil carbon, how we manage the land in the future provides the opportunity to halt and reverse this decline. Soils are living ecosystems, and just as for above ground ecosystems, the healthier they are and the more diverse the life is they support as a result the more they will be able to function effectively. Understanding this is critical and opens opportunities for all land owners and land managers (including gardeners) to play a role in a sustainable future.

So, on Earth Day 2020, take the time to look at the earth beneath your feet, and delve into some of the great online resources available. Perhaps start with mySoil (https://www.bgs.ac.uk/mySoil/#ad-image-ad-image-0) and see what lies beneath on your daily walk. Soil Net (https://www.soil-net.com/) is a great resource focused on key stages 1-4 but useful to all, and if you need educational resources for when schools re-open take a look at what the British Society of Soil Science can provide for free (https://soils.org.uk/catalog/merchandise?page=1). To explore further afield look at the Joint Research Centre European Soil Data Centre (https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Atlas) for a range of downloadable soil atlases.