Kalahari Desert Sands An Important, Forgotten Storehouse of Carbon Dioxide

ScienceDaily (Apr. 1, 2008) — The sands of the desert are an important and forgotten storehouse of carbon dioxide taken from the world's atmosphere, scientists heard April 2, 2008 at the Society for General Microbiology's 162nd meeting.

"Desert soils are unusual because the sand grains at the surface are bound together into a crust by bacteria, reducing wind erosion and adding nutrients to the soil. Deserts cover over one third of the world's land surface and yet our understanding of their contribution to the atmospheric carbon dioxide balance is poor", says Dr Andrew Thomas of Manchester Metropolitan University.