Dr. Yongzhe Chen’s recent publication on Science

Size, distribution, and vulnerability of the global soil inorganic carbon

Congratulations to Dr. Yongzhe Chen on publishing a research article on Science. The title of the article is “Size, distribution, and vulnerability of the global soil inorganic carbon” and it is now available at https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adi7918

The global estimation of the size, distribution and vulnerability of soil inorganic carbon (SIC) is important yet largely unquantified. This study quantifies global SIC, revealing that soils store 2,305 ± 636 billion tons of SIC in the top 2 meters, with 1.13 ± 0.33 billion tons lost annually to inland waters - significantly influencing carbon dynamics. Under business-as-usual scenarios, 23 billion tons of SIC may be lost over 30 years due to nitrogen-driven acidification, particularly in India and China. These findings underscore SIC’s critical but overlooked role in the global carbon cycle, urging its integration into climate models and soil management strategies to mitigate future carbon losses.

Distribution of raw observations of SIC content.

Predictors of SIC.

Reference: Y. Huang, et al. “Size, distribution, and vulnerability of the global soil inorganic carbon,” in Science, vol. 384, pp. 233-239, 2024, doi: 10.1126/science.adi7918.

Keywords: Soil Inorganic Carbon (SIC), carbon sequestration, soil acidification, climate change, machine learning modeling, global carbon budget, nitrogen fertilization.