When I heard that the Rose Café was about soils I questioned attending, but I am glad that I did. I never knew that soils are so important to combating global warming and the talk was very worthwhile.

At the beginning of the talk the speaker asked the audience to define soils. Surprisingly, no one knew the definition of such a common and everyday substance. In addition to learning the definition of soil I learned so much more. One topic that especially interested me is how improving soil quality could help reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide. Essentially, soils can trap carbon dioxide which means that less carbon dioxide is in the atmosphere contributing to the green house effect. This could be a major tool in slowing climate change because soil can trap large amounts of carbon dioxide.

Another benefit of improved soil quality is that highly fertile soil can promote plant growth. Plants use carbon dioxide in the process of photosynthesis. Then when the plants die they can be used to return carbon dioxide to the soil. Some tribal villages use ancient processes to return the nutrients, including carbon, to the soil. These methods involve stacking food waste and chard plant material on top of depleted soil.

The researchers are now trying to replicate the ancient process with a new fertilizer made from chard cow bones and some other ingredients. I wonder if this process of charring and processing cow bones and then transporting the final fertilizer actually produces more carbon dioxide than it reduces.

I was pleasantly surprised with the talk and enjoyed learning more about soil. I hope that the solution described by the professor will indeed help combat climate change. It seems to hold promise and I hope that the cost will not impede adoption of the new fertilizer.