Last evening, while surfing the options on Netflix, I came across Kiss the Ground, a documentary focused on the role that soil and plants play in the carbon cycle. In particular, the show discussed how deforestation and desertification (primarily due to agricultural practices) have decimated these carbon sinks and greatly exacerbated the process of global warming.
By removing trees and tilling grasslands for crop fields, topsoil has been severely depleted across the planet; furthermore, the repeated use of pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilizers has sterilized the soil, destroying the microbes that are responsible for returning carbon to the soil. In addition, the widespread use of feedlots and mechanized hog farms has deprived grasslands of natural fertilization.
Most importantly, the documentary points out that our conversion to clean energy and electric vehicles will only serve to slow or stabilize global warming. The excess carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere can only be diminished by reversing our impact on natural ecosystems, i.e. by converting to no-till agriculture, by reverting to open range, grass fed livestock management, by recycling food waste and by halting deforestation and planting trees. I highly recommend the documentary.
