soil science

Rattan Lal, an Indian-born scientist, has devoted his career to finding ways to capture carbon from the air and store it in soil. Today, that idea has a catchy name: regenerative agriculture.

Microorganisms play a vital role in growing food and sustaining the planet, but they do it anonymously. Scientists haven't identified most soil microbes, but they are learning which are most common.

Right now, the government rents farmland to help protect soil and water. But once the land is farmed again, the benefits disappear. Environmentalists want to change that.

The area of land no longer suitable for farming because of salt degradation is rising quickly. Scientists argue the private sector should help fund efforts to reverse it since it relies on the crops.

The urban oasis boasts about 170,000 different types of microbes, recent dirt samples show. That diversity is comparable to a tropical rain forest. About 2,000 species are found only in the park.