A VICIOUS circle that could increase the effects of global warming has been identified by British scientists.

A study of soil in England and Wales has revealed that stocks of carbon dioxide are being leached out more quickly than was previously thought, and that increasing temperatures are probably responsible.

The findings indicated that the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere triggers a warming effect that in turn releases more of the greenhouse gas. The phenomenon suggests that Governments will have to introduce much more stringent emission controls than those included in the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

The amount of carbon being leaked — an estimated 13 million tonnes a year — is equivalent to 8 per cent of Britain’s industrial emissions. It more than offsets the reduction of 12.7 million tonnes achieved in line with Kyoto targets.

Scientists said that the world might not be able to rely on the soil “sinks” that were thought to offer a buffer against global warming. The sinks, which store carbon, were assumed to soak up about 25 per cent of industrial emissions of the gas, but the results suggest that the true figure is much lower and that there may be 25 per cent more carbon in the atmosphere than first thought.

Professor Guy Kirk, of Cranfield University, who led the study, said: “The consequence is that it becomes even more urgent to do something about this. If we don’t do something, global warming will accelerate. That would be a disaster.

“All the consequences of global warming would occur more rapidly. That’s the scary thing. The amount of time we have got to do something about it is smaller.”

In the research, published in the journal Nature, Professor Kirk’s team took soil samples from 5,662 sites that were first examined in 1978 under the National Soil Inventory project. Samples from the same sites were taken in 2003, and the carbon levels were compared. Substantial amounts of carbon had disappeared. Some sites had 10 per cent less carbon in 2003 than in 1978.

The only factor that could explain the pattern is climate change. Average temperatures have risen by about 0.5C (0.9F) over the same period, and this appears to have increased the rate at which dead organic matter is processed and the carbon within it released.

Soil and vegetation have long been known to act as sinks, storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and decaying organic matter. As carbon dioxide levels increase, more ought to be absorbed by the sinks. The research, however, indicates that much, if not all, of this benefit is offset by activity in the soil, which processes carbon and releases some of it back into the atmosphere.

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