By Roger Harrabin
BBC environment analyst
Scientists are poised to deliver a stark condemnation of the damage we are wreaking on the land surface of the planet.
We have degraded soils, expanded deserts, felled forests, driven out wildlife, and drained peatlands.
In the process, we have turned the land from an asset that combats climate change into a major source of carbon.
The scientists will say we must stop abusing the land if we hope to avoid catastrophic climate heating.
How can the land protect us from climate change?
Uncultivated land covered with vegetation protects us from overheating because the plants absorb the warming gas CO2 from the air and fix it in the soil.
But the scientists meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, will say the way we farm and grow timber often actually increases emissions of carbon dioxide.
Between a quarter and a third of all greenhouse gas emissions are now estimated to come from land use. Read more…
