(Buttered) Brass Tacks:
Allan Savory: What Holds Up, What Doesn't?
Looking at two arguments against his 2013-TED-Talk "How to fight desertification and reverse climate change", and a recommendation to look at his experience
https://butterbei.de/en/posts/allan-savory-what-holds-up-what-doesnt/
#nutrition #food #Agriculture #soil #climate #livestock #climatechange
Warming unlocks ancient carbon in Tibetan permafrost, triggering climate tipping point
The results revealed a clear and troubling pattern across all warming levels. Even under low to moderate warming, #carbon losses through respiration outpaced photosynthetic carbon gains by 1–16-fold.
Warming by +1°C, +2°C, and +4°C increased annual net #CO2 release by 44%, 80%, and 176%, respectively, and the site was a net carbon source before any experimental warming began.
"When warming reaches around 2–4°C, the system changes fundamentally," Ding told Phys.org. "Plants begin to reach their thermal and water-stress limits, so photosynthesis declines. At the same time, thaw penetrates deeper into the #soil, exposing old #permafrost carbon that has been frozen and protected for hundreds to thousands of years. Once thawed, microbes can decompose it and release it as CO2."
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-ancient-carbon-tibetan-permafrost-triggering.html
A new study in Nature Communications finds a critical climate tipping point in Tibetan permafrost ecosystems. Warming of 2–4 degrees Celsius triggers a self-reinforcing cycle of carbon release that could significantly accelerate climate change, according to the work.
Analysis of soil fertility data and mean national intelligence quotient scores for 126 countries finds a positive association between them. This is interpreted as an indication that nutrition affects intelligence. Variability in soil fertility accounted for 23% of the variability in intelligence scores; excluding an outlier, this rose to 42%.
Original paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-22539-5
The idea is not new: Our human #microbiota are dependant on #soilLife and our direct contact to natural #soil. But now scientists made a test with Finnish daycares: https://www.upworthy.com/pn-finland-daycare-forest-floor-children-immune-system/
Yes, mud and "dirt" are healthy!
The study: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aba2578
My podcast about soil microbiota: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/season-01-ep-04-sitting-with-your-beloved-sourdough/id1630784381?i=1000587422166
#biodiversity #soilLife #ecology #NatureMatchCuts #reconnectingWithNature #mud #gardening #health #immuneSystem
❓Which is the hottest surface: tarmac road or bare dried-out soil in the farmland?
🔎 Hanspeter Liniger and Jovana Askrabic study the warming of different land uses, and its effects on #soil and our #Climate
💡Their measurements on green grass, bare soil, and asphalt show huge temperature differences — reaching over 30 °C.
Watch the video 𝗛𝗼𝘁 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗹 and learn more about soil & its climate effects
On 8 May 2026 at #EGU26, scientists, #policymakers, and #EU representatives gathered to discuss the EU #Soil Monitoring and Resilience Law and the role of soil science in supporting evidence-based EU policies.
During the session: ''Facing the last policy challenges in the EU: How soil scientists can contribute to the demands for scientific evidence to support EU policies.'' Kaisa Säkkinen shared key highlights in our last #GeoLog post.
👉: https://egu.eu/9CWYVJ
📸 Antonio Jordán on #imaggeo
NIOO-KNAW
Butter bei die Fische
vcallinan
O=C=O
RDN
Petra van Cronenburg
CBC Top Stories
CDE, University of Bern
EGU
💧🌏 Greg Cocks