Centre for Interdisciplinary Soil Studies (CISS)

Human and ecological systems rely on soil for the provision of water and nutrients for plant growth, the regulation of the water cycle and the storage of carbon. Climate change and its impacts — increases in temperature, changing precipitation patterns, floods, droughts — will not only affect us but may also affect how soil provides these services. Importantly soil is a major factor in our response to tackling climate change as it is the second largest carbon pool after the oceans. European Environment (Agency 2017). Soils help to combat and adapt to climate change by playing a key role in the carbon cycle (FAO 2015)