What Happens in the Soil, Doesn’t Stay in the Soil: How the Climate Impacts on Our Ecosystems
In the silent, unseen world beneath our feet, soil microbes and fungi keep ecosystems thriving — something they have been doing before the arrival of men and their beliefs they own the planet and that they can take and destroy with impunity.
But climate extremes — droughts, floods, freezes, and heatwaves — have become increasingly common in the last two decades, pushing microscopic communities to their limits. Recent research across 30 European grasslands exposes how these events threaten the foundation of soil ecosystems. This groundbreaking study reveals the resilience of soil microbiomes and their vulnerabilities, raising urgent questions about the future of life on Earth.
We already know that man has been destroying the topsoil, rendering the Earth infertile and creating imbalances like those inside our gut ecosystem. Over a decade ago, we were told that the Earth has 60 years left, after which time there will be nothing left to grow food.
For example, 70% of all pesticide use has been in the last 2 decades, drenching the soil (all around the world) with millions of tonnes of nature-killing chemicals known to leach into groundwater and contaminate everything around for miles.
We also know pesticide traces remain in our food, and we ingest various daily levels depending on our diet.
Now, we also ingest a lot of plastics and microplastics in each serving of fish and plants. Lately, there has been increased exposure to “forever chemicals” due to their presence at every stage of our food chain and drinking water. PFAs are everywhere: in our food, tap water, foods, cookware and cooking utensils, clothes, upholstery, watch bands, and everything that is water-repellant and to avoid friction, like shaving creams and many more.
Where do all those toxic man-made substances end up? In our drains! They continue to accumulate at critical levels in the environment and may never be biosynthesised by nature. This means they are ubiquitous in nature in high concentrations and will, at some point, pass the threshold and cause permanent damage to the environment and the human body.
How is nature supposed to fight back?
How is the human body supposed to cope and maintain homeostasis when so much is stacked against it and we eat non-human foods and poisons?
The Caretakers of Our Planet
Soil microbes, including bacteria, fungi, and archaea, play a vital role in biogeochemical processes like carbon and nitrogen cycling. These processes regulate soil fertility, plant growth, and even the climate.
According to a study published in Nature on 27 November 2024, soils subjected to heatwaves, droughts, floods, and freezing exhibited consistent yet varying responses in their microbial communities. Heat, the most, profoundly impacted these events, forcing microbes to shut down non-essential functions and focus on survival.[1]
Heatwaves: The Biggest Disruptor
When temperatures soared during controlled experiments, microbial communities showed a significant shift:
Dormancy and Sporulation: Heat stress triggered a 7.21% increase in dormancy and sporulation-related genes. This means microbes prioritised survival, retreating into a state of inactivity rather than supporting vital soil functions.
Reduced Metabolic Diversity: The diversity of metabolic activities decreased, limiting the soil’s ability to support plant life and store carbon.
Fungal Imbalance: Heat destabilised fungi, key players in carbon storage and nutrient cycling, allowing opportunistic bacteria to take over. This microbial imbalance threatens the long-term stability of soil ecosystems. Now add millions of tonnes of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and synthetic fertilisers made from petroleum every year— the final blow!
Interestingly, the severity of microbial responses depends on local soil properties and climatic histories. Soils accustomed to moderate conditions were the least prepared for sudden extremes. For example, a heatwave in a typically cool, temperate region caused more disruption than in a region regularly exposed to high temperatures.
This finding suggests that soil microbes’ adaptability isn’t uniform across ecosystems. Regions unaccustomed to climatic extremes are at higher risk of soil degradation, reduced fertility, and biodiversity loss. Even more so, when further damaged by conventional farming.
The Bigger Picture: What It Means for Us
The health of soil microbiomes is intricately linked to broader ecosystem functioning. When microbes are stressed, their ability to regulate carbon and nitrogen cycles diminishes, contributing to:
Reduced Soil Fertility: Essential nutrients may become less available to plants, threatening food security.
Increased Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Disrupted carbon cycling can release stored carbon, exacerbating climate change. However, there is no proof that carbon dioxide is bad for nature when it relies on it for growth.
Loss of Biodiversity: A shift in microbial communities can cascade up the food chain, impacting plants, animals, and ultimately humans.
A Call to Action: Supporting Our Heroes
This research highlights an urgent need for climate resilience strategies that protect visible ecosystems and the invisible microbial networks that sustain them. Here’s what we can do:
Support Regenerative Agriculture: Practices like no-till farming, cover cropping, and organic amendments can enhance soil health and microbial diversity.
Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Cutting emissions is critical to slowing the pace of climate change and giving ecosystems time to adapt.
Promote Biodiversity: Diverse plant communities can support resilient soil microbiomes, even under extreme conditions.
How can we do this when we are not the ones farming the land?
Do it with your wallet!
Avoid all conventionally grown products that are in complete disharmony with nature. By buying fruits and vegetables from supermarkets, we contribute to the problem. Supermarkets have created a global problem by forcing farmers to survive by producing quantities over quality and often blackmailing them into accepting unrealistic prices. Yet, each supermarket chain makes billions every year on the backs of farmers, increasing prices manifold in stores but not paying a penny more to farmers. Just an example: Expect eggs to double in price this year because supermarkets refused to pay more and match the increasing cost of living, meaning that producers will not have enough to meet the demand this year. Supermarkets created all of this. To prevent losses, supermarkets will rely on eggs from China, which they will pay pennies for but sell for the price of gold in the UK and elsewhere. This statement is extreme, but it is not far from the truth. Let’s see how high the price of eggs will increase this year!
“By buying fruits and vegetables from supermarkets, we contribute to the problem. Supermarkets have created a global problem by forcing farmers to survive by producing quantities over quality, often blackmailing them into accepting unrealistic prices.”
Gardening is easier than you think and doesn’t require much but a piece of land or garden. Avoiding nature-killing substances, you know that what you put at the end of your fork is safe to eat and supports nature. Avoid weed-killers and petrochemical fertilisers. Use organic seaweed-based fertilisers. This are not expensive and promote the growth of life-sustaining fungi and bacteria, and tasty fruits.
The Takeaway: Listen to the Soil
Our soils are sending a clear message: their resilience is not infinite. Extreme climatic events are testing the limits of microbial communities and, by extension, the ecosystems that depend on them. Each degree of warming, every flood, and each freeze brings us closer to a tipping point, especially when combined with current farming methods.
What happens in the soil doesn’t stay in the soil — it reverberates throughout the entire web of life. Protecting the soil is not just an environmental priority; it’s a survival imperative.
So the question is: What will we do about it?
Let’s act now, not just for the health of our soils but for the future of life on Earth and our health.
References:
Knight, CG. Nicolitch, O. Griffiths, RI. et al. (2024). Soil microbiomes show consistent and predictable responses to extreme events. Nature. 636, pp. 690–696 doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08185-3