Greenhouse gas emissions from soils-A review

When using a conservative average of 300 mg CO2e m−2 h−1 (based on our literature review), this leads to global annual net soil emissions of ≥350 Pg CO2e (CO2e = CO2 equivalents = total effect of all GHG normalized to CO2). This corresponds to roughly 21% of the global soil C and N pools. For comparison, 33.4 Pg CO2 are being emitted annually by fossil fuel combustion and the cement industry.