The Challenge
Last year’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change the leading international scientific authority on global climate change, reported that even if we ended all green house gas emissions today—which is technically impossible— it would take 100 years for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) to return to 1985 levels—not quickly enough to reverse the increase of the earth’s temperature.
The Opportunity
There are three main carbon dioxide reservoirs or sinks on this planet: the atmosphere, the oceans, and the land. While the atmosphere and oceans is being saturated with CO2, the land offers us the largest CO2 sink to which we have direct access. So, while we must drastically reduce CO2 emissions worldwide, we must also pull additional CO2 out of the atmosphere and store, or sequester, it back into our soils.
The Local Solution
The Marin Climate Initiative, a project of Marin Organic, is a partner of the Marin Carbon Project, an effort by local ranchers, soil scientists, and governmental and non-governmental organizations in Marin County and the Bay Area, to define a base-line of existing soil carbon in Marin’s soils. This study will be followed by the development of a land management protocol for sequestering CO2 in different soils types under various conditions.
Meanwhile, the Marin Climate Initiative offers an easy-to-use calculator and great suggestions on the best choices to help reduce one’s carbon footprint—and with it help reverse global warming. Use the calculator yourself and tell others about it—and please become a partner of the Marin Climate Initiative by contributing to our efforts.
The opportunity to change the world is right under our feet. Thank you for your support.