Published January 1, 2026 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Potential Effects of Climate Change on Soil Properties

Authors/Creators

  • 1. 2Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Sam Higginbottom Uni-versity of Agriculture, Technology and Science, Prayagraj - 211007, U. P., INDIA.
  • 2. 1Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Banda University of Ag-riculture and technology, Banda. U.P.-210001
  • 3. 3Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, Chattisgarh-492012

Description

Climate change is one of the most critical drivers altering soil processes and dis-turbing agroecosystem sustainability worldwide.  Rising temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events directly and in-directly affect soil properties. Specifically, climate change impacts soil fertility by accelerating organic matter decomposition, increasing salinization and acidification risks, disrupting nutrient cycles, and undermining microbial activity and soil structure. These changes collectively reduce soil resilience and productivity while intensifying greenhouse gas emissions from soils.  This article reviews current knowledge of these impacts and highlights Mitigation strategies such as conserva-tion agriculture, improved nutrient and water management, crop diversification, and soil carbon sequestration to enhance soil stability.  This article reviews current knowledge of these impacts and highlights Mitigation strategies such as conserva-tion agriculture, improved nutrient and water management, crop diversification, and soil carbon sequestration to enhance soil stability. 

Files

03 Potential Effects of Climate Change on Soil Properties.pdf

Files (505.8 kB)

Additional details

Dates

Available
2026-01-01

Software

Repository URL
https://journals.rdagriculture.in/

References

  • 1. Fortuna, A. (2012) The soil biota. Nature Education Knowledge 3(10):1.
  • 2. Gupta, V.V.S.R., Neate, S.M. and Leonard, E. (1997). Cooperative Research Centre for Soil and Land Man-agement (Australia) Life in the soil: the relationship between agriculture and soil organisms. Cooperative Research Centre for Soil & Land Management, Glen Osmond.
  • 3. Allen, D.E., Singh, B.P., Dalal, R.C. (2011) Soil health indicators under climate change: a review of current knowledge. In: Soil health and climate change. Springer, Berlin, pp 25–45.
  • 4. Gelybo, G., Tóth, E., Farkas, C., Horel, A, Kása, I. and Bakacsi, Z. (2018) Potential impacts of climate change on soil properties. Agrochemistry and Soil Science, 67(1):121-141.
  • 5. Arnold, S.L., Doran, J.W., Schepers, J., Wienhold, B. (2005) Portable probes to measure electrical conductivity and soil quality in the field. Communication in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 36: 2271-2287.
  • 6. Gil, S.V., Meriles, J., Conforto, C., Figoni, G., Basanta, M. and Lovera, E. (2009) Field assessment of soil biological and chemical quality in response to crop management practices. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 25: 439-448.
  • 7. Smith, J.L., Halvorson, J.J. and Bolton, H. (2002) Soil properties and microbial activity across a 500 m ele-vation gradient in a semi-arid environment. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 34(11): 1749-1757.
  • 8. Ross, D.S., Matschonat, G. and Skyllberg, U. (2008) Cation exchange in forest soils: the need for a new perspective. European Journal of Soil Science, 59: 1141-1159.
  • 9. Davidson, E.A. and Janssens, I.A. (2006) Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feed-backs to climate change. Nature, 440: 165-173.
  • 10. Kopittke, G.R., Tietema, A. and Verstraten, J.M. (2012) Soil acidification occurs under ambient conditions but is retarded by repeated drought: results of a field-scale climate manipulation experiment. Science of the Total Environment. 439: 332–439.
  • 11. Weil, R.R. and Magdoff, F. (2004) Significance of soil organic matter to soil quality and health. In: Magdoff F, Weil RR. (eds.), Soil organic matter in sustainable agriculture. CRC Press, Florida, 1-43.
  • 12. Haynes, R.J. (2008) Soil organic matter quality and the size and activity of the microbial biomass: their significance to the quality of agricultural soils. In: Huang Q, Huang PM, Violante A. (eds.), Soil miner-al-microbe-organic interactions: theories and applications. Springer, Berlin. 201-230.
  • 13. Rosenzweig, C. and Hillel, D. (2000) Soils and global climate change: Challenges and opportunities. Soil Science, 165:47-56.
  • 14. Anderson, J.M. (1992) Responses of soils to climate change. Advances in Ecological Research, 22: 163-210.
  • 15. Lal, R. (2004) Soil carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change. Geoderma, 123(1-2): 1-22.
  • 16. Kimball, B.A. (2003) Response of plants to elevated atmospheric CO2. Indian Journal of Plant Physiology, 18-24.
  • 17. Wixon, D.L. and Balser, T.C. (2009) Complexity, climate change and soil carbon: a systems approach to microbial temperature response. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 26(5): 601-620.
  • 18. García-Ruiz, R., Ochoa, V., Vinegla, B., Hinojosa, M.B., Peña Santiago, R. and Liebanas, G. (2009) Soil enzymes, nematode community and selected physico-chemical properties as soil quality indicators in organic and conventional olive oil farming: influence of seasonality and site features. Applied Soil Ecology 41: 305-314.
  • 19. United Nations (UN) (1992) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
  • 20. (IPCC (2021) Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Masson-Delmotte, V., et al.; Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.)
  • 21. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2023) Synthesis Report of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6).
  • 22. EDGAR (2024) GHG emissions of all world countries 2024. Report
  • 23. UNFCCC (2024) NDC Synthesis. Report
  • 24. Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (2020) Market Mechanisms: Options for Climate Policy.
  • 25. IPCC (2022) Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change, Chapter 14 International Cooperation.
  • 26. U.S. EPA (2021) "Clean Energy Programs.
  • 27. UNFCCC (2020) "What is the Kyoto Protocol?
  • 28. UNFCCC (2023) Paris Agreement-Status of Ratification.
  • 29. UNTC (2025) Paris Agreement Status of Ratification
  • 30. The White House (2025) Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements