Carbon Sequestration in Soil as a Sustainable Way of Greenhouse Effect Mitigation

Due to natural mechanisms of transformation the carbon compounds contained in the atmosphere into the humus, soil is an important factor controlling the concentration of atmospheric CO2. The mass of carbon contained in organic matter accumulated in the surface layer of the Earth’s crust is greater than the mass of this element in the atmosphere or biomass of all the organisms living over the globe. Over the recent years, much attention has been paid to the role of soils in limiting the reasons of climate changes, considering the possibility of increasing carbon sequestration in this matrix. This way of approaching the problem of the greenhouse effect, which does not require an involvement of complex and expensive technological solutions aimed at capturing and storing the atmospheric CO2, and additionally contributing to improving the quality of soil and water environment, and soil productivity is fully sustainable and combines the environmental, economic and social issues.