Soil science

This is the best resource list you’ll find anywhere. Big shoutout to Kiss The Ground for putting it together!

Start here

Next steps

NY Times: To Combat Climate Change, Start From the Ground Up (With Dirt)
NY Times: A Boon for Soil, and for the Environment
NY Times: Can Dirt Save the Earth?
Washington Post: A secret weapon to fight climate change: dirt
Upworthy: A down-and-dirty look at a groundbreaking discovery that could save the planet.
Huffington Post: A Weapon Against Climate Change May Be Right Under Our Feet
Fusion.net: An overlooked answer to climate change right beneath your feet
The Atlantic: Healthy Soil Microbes, Healthy People
FastCo: Restoring Global Soil Quality Is One Of The Best Things We Can Do For Climate Change
Yes! Magazine: What’s a Carbon Farmer? How California Ranchers Use Dirt to Tackle Climate Change

Soil on the global stage

International Climate Initiative – and Hope – Emerges at COP21: The historic Paris Agreement for emissions reduction wasn’t the only groundbreaking thing to come out of COP21, the UN Global Climate Summit in December, 2015.
“Regeneration Coalition” Press Release: Learn About the 4/1000 Initiative
This Idea Could Transform Global Food Systems: from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
International Year of Soils: United Nations, 2015.

Regenerative agriculture

Key practices, principles and pioneering work of regenerative agriculture.

Holistic/Managed Grazing: How to Fight Desertification and Reverse Climate Change
Holistic/Managed Grazing: Soil Carbon Cowboys
Healthy Soil=Healthy You: The ‘Dirt Cure’
Healthy Soil=Healthy You: Healthy Soil Microbes, Healthy People
Cover Crops: A Farming Revolution With Deep Roots in the Past
Keys to Building Healthy Soil: Gabe Brown
The Benefits of Composting
No-Till Farming
Biodiversity: The Hidden World Under Our Feet
Biodiversity: Role of Soil Biology in Improving Soil Quality
Biodiversity: Climate-Smart Soils, Paustian et al. (2016)

Learn more

Soil and climate science

Soil Carbon Restoration: Can Biology do the Job?
Soil-Climate Connection Fact Sheet
Soil and Carbon: Soil Solutions to Climate Problems
Global Cooling by Grassland Soils of the Geological Past and Near Future
Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas
Long-term Climate Change Mitigation Potential with Organic Matter Management on Grasslands
Grassland Management and Conversion Into Grassland: Effects on Soil Carbon
Carbon Sequestration in Tropical Agroforestry Systems
Carbon Sequestration Potential on Agricultural Lands: A Review of Current Science and Available Practices
Regenerative Capitalism: How Universal Principles And Patterns Will Shape Our New Economy
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: Trade and Environment Review 2013: Wake Up Before It’s Too Late
Climate Smart Soils: The Potential for Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Soils
A Review of the Potential for Soil Carbon Sequestration: by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
The Feasibility and Cost-Effectiveness of Sequestering
China’s National Ecosystem: Improvements in Soil Carbon
Cost-Effective Methods: Improving Adoption of Soil Health and Carbon Sequestration Practices

Agriculture tools

COMET: Farm and Ranch Carbon Accounting System
Marin Carbon Project: Carbon Farming Plans
Carbon Cycle Institute: DRAFT Carbon Farm Plan — ABC Ranch
Carbon Farming vs Farming for Carbon: How to Improve Soil Organic Matter
Open Agriculture Learning Series
Soil Conservation: Success Stories and Tips from Across the Nation

Books

The Carbon Farming Solution
Grass, Soil, Hope
Cows Save the Planet
Water in Plain Sight
Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations
The Soil Will Save Us
Farmacology: Total Health from the Ground Up
Restoration Agriculture
Permaculture, Designer’s Handbook
Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
Holistic Management Handbook
Rodale’s Basic Organic Gardening: A Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Healthy Garden
The Rodale Book of Composting: Easy Methods for Every Gardener
Tending the Wild
See More From: Soil Not Oil Coalition

Documentaries

Into practice

10 ways to love the soil

Did you know that building healthy soils on a global scale is one of the best ways to draw down enough carbon to prevent a catastrophic climate crisis? ―And carbon storage isn’t soil’s only superpower; the ways that soil stands to positively impact the lives of billions worldwide are tangible and immediate: replenished water cycles, restored fertility, and regenerated ecosystems. What’s not to love? Here are 10 ways to love the soil.

Kiss The Ground’s free middle-school curriculum

Kiss the Ground’s Free Middle School Curriculum that we developed in partnership with Life Lab is designed to introduce young people to the magic of soil and the fascinating connection it has to the food we eat, our health and our climate. The 5-lesson curriculum, written to serve as supplemental material for the Next Generation Science Standards, teaches about the carbon cycle, photosynthesis, soil science, various agricultural practices, and concludes with a regenerative soil-based project. Our aim is to have this curriculum in every US state and translated for global distribution. It’s free, help us get the word out!

Free soil health communication toolkit

An open source slide deck that connects the importance of soil health to business, identifies best practices and showcases private sector actions. The deck is usable by anyone to manipulate and adapt to fit your needs. Pull slides that are relevant to you and your audience, change colors to align with your brand, and share freely! Supporting information and statistics relevant to each slide are included in the notes sections for reference in discussions.
Supporting appendix slide deck with a bit more detail for those interested in digging in and a list of resources.
A compilation of soil health fact sheets from NRCS, FAO as well as infographics.
Short animated videos that simplify the critical role soil health plays in agriculture and outline best practice solutions. Watch animated videos: Leaky System and Sources & Sinks.