--- description: Warming temperatures could cause soil to release more carbon dioxide than previously thought, contributing to a feedback mechanism title: Why Soil Could Make Climate Change Worse Than Scientists Thought image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc8d72f0faa258717/6988bdd6bc6cfc4d7e3e0766/soil-climate-change-carbon-sink.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [climate change](/tag/climate-change/) ## climate change Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why Soil Could Make Climate Change Worse Than Scientists Thought  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 9, 2017 8:04 PM CUT  Antonio Krämer/Eye—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 9, 2017 8:04 PM CUT Warming temperatures could cause soil to release more carbon dioxide than previously thought, contributing to a feedback mechanism that leads to even more warming, according to new [research](http://science.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aal1319 "undefined"). The study, published in the journal _Science_, found that soil in conditions of 4°C (7.2°F) of warming releases as much as 37% more carbon dioxide than soil that has not warmed. Nearly 200 countries from around the world have agreed to try to limit temperatures from rising more than 2°C (3.6°F) under the [Paris Agreement](http://time.com/4146764/paris-agreement-climate-cop-21/ "undefined"), but research has shown that the world remains far from hitting such a target. The new study suggests a significant new feedback mechanism that could create unexpected challenges for fighting climate change. Past research has suggested that warm temperatures will cause soil to release 9% to 12% more carbon dioxide than under normal conditions. Scientists behind the new study say the discrepancy is likely because their study evaluated the effects on soil at a greater depth than past experiments. “Deeper soil layers contain a lot of carbon,” says study author Margaret Torn, a scientist at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in a [press release](http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2017/03/09/soils-carbon-climate/ "undefined"). “Our work indicates it’s a key missing component in our understanding of the potential feedback of soils to the planet’s climate.” Carbon stored in [soil](http://time.com/3916200/climate-change-plant-growth/ "undefined") poses challenges for fighting climate change, but some researchers also believe optimizing soil to serve as a better carbon sink could help take some carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4697227/soil-climate-change-carbon-sink/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4697227/soil-climate-change-carbon-sink/"},"headline":"Why Soil Could Make Climate Change Worse Than Scientists Thought","datePublished":"2017-03-09T20:04:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:46:21.048Z","description":"Soil acts as a carbon sink that stores the greenhouse gas","url":"https://time.com/4697227/soil-climate-change-carbon-sink/","keywords":["climate change","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc8d72f0faa258717/6988bdd6bc6cfc4d7e3e0766/soil-climate-change-carbon-sink.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc8d72f0faa258717/6988bdd6bc6cfc4d7e3e0766/soil-climate-change-carbon-sink.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"soil climate change carbon sink","caption":"soil climate change carbon sink","creditText":"Antonio Krämer/Eye—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/climate-change/","name":"climate change"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4697227/soil-climate-change-carbon-sink/","name":"Why Soil Could Make Climate Change Worse Than Scientists Thought"}}]}] ```