Diary of a Carbon Farmer

This is the diary of an Australian family who escaped from the city, joined a farming community, and learned to love soil. Carbon Farming is about growing soil carbon - the first link in our food chain. The topsoil is where God's creation is taking place, at every moment. Carbon is the building block of life. By growing it we can restore ecosystems to health. At the same time we can remove Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere and store it as Carbon in the soil.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Why are pastures a better global warming solution than forests?

An acre of healthy native grassland pasture continuously removes more carbon from the atmosphere and releases more oxygen into it than an acre of rainforest. Carbon in the atmosphere - as CO2 - is the main culprit in global warming. Locking carbon up and removing it from the atmosphere is called 'sequestering'. There are two major reasons why grasslands are better at sequestering carbon than are forests. Reason No. 1: an acre of grass includes a huge mass of photosynthetic green tissue whereas a forest contains large amounts of nonphotosyntheitc trunks and branches. Reason No. 2: grasses can have up to 90% of their 'biomass' below the surface of the soil while trees have 90% of their tissue above ground. Finally, a rainforest actually releases carbon dioxide through the process of rot and decomposition.
So the future of carbon credits lies in healthy pastures grown on healthy soils. Farmers will save the ecosystem from destruction. Another great reason to support your local farmer!