Warming will disturb balance of soil nutrients in drylands, make drylands less productive
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - 15:30
in Earth & Climate
An increase in aridity due to global warming will disturb the balance of nutrients in the soil and reduce productivity of the world's drylands, which support millions of people, a landmark study predicts. The research was conducted by a global collaboration of scientists who studied sites in 16 countries. It shows that increasing aridity is associated with a reduction in carbon and nitrogen in the soil and an increase in phosphorus.