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ABSTRACT
Greenhouse gases do not generate heat. Bare ground is the furnace: vegetation and the water cycle provide the air-conditioning. Heat is emitted as infrared radiation; greenhouse gases in the atmosphere absorb some of this outgoing radiation which then heats the atmosphere or is reabsorbed by the land and, mainly, the oceans. So, control of greenhouse gas emissions is necessary and urgent – but it will not be enough to arrest global heating and does nothing for the water cycle. Clearance of natural landscapes for agriculture has driven global heating and disrupted the water cycle. Regenerative agriculture combats these hazards by avoiding bare soil, not ploughing, adopting a diverse crop rotation including perennial grasses and legumes, and creating windbreaks and wetlands. Speedier uptake of these society-saving practices requires a new social contract. The war in Ukraine provides an opportunity as well as urgent need.
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Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Correction Statement
This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
Notes
1. Low C/N ratio of most C3 species favours bacteria: wide C/N ratio associated with C4 species, shrubs and trees, favours fungal dominance in the rhizosphere.
2. In Australia, we estimate less than 1%, based on registration of carbon projects for the Australian Government Clean Energy Regulator.
3. Even in the turmoil of 2022, Russia contributed 13%, Ukraine 8.5% and Kazakhstan 2% of global wheat exports.
4. Economic rent is not to be confused with the commercial rent paid for hiring a car or leasing an apartment. It is the layer of income net of a nation’s wage and profit streams that are currently redistributed from people who work to produce them to the owners of rent-yielding assets who offer no quid pro quo in return.