Having grown up with avid gardener parents, I actually know a thing or two about soil. My father used to pay to have giant piles of “special” dirt delivered to our house, because, as it was explained to me, it was just better for the plants than the dirt that was already in the ground. Though I always thought my dad was a little bit crazy, Dawit Solomon’s Cafe talk helped me understand just how vital good soil is to an environment.

There are the obvious reasons that soil matters, to grow food and build buildings on, but soil is also a reflection on the state of the environment as a whole. Soil isn’t something that I would expect to be impacted by climate change, but it is. Higher temperatures and pollution change the carbon content of soil, which affects the fertility of the soil and can make it impossible to farm.

Another interesting thing Dawit Solomon said is that there have been several studies conducted of indigenous tribes in South America and Africa, where the soil is seemingly resistant to the changes happening on the Earth. He suggested that these tribes possibly have a method to save soil from the negative effects of climate change, which would obviously be ideal. Researchers are currently looking into replicating these methods, which will help lower carbon levels in the air and reduce climate change.