Greenhouse Gases Emission in Degraded Soil: Focus on the Mediterranean Climate

The release of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere as a result of human activities and fossil fuel burning is well recognized and accepted to be the main reason for the projected climate change. Soil degradation also is a global concern issue. Degraded soils have lesser carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) contents than nondegraded ones as a consequence of their decline in vegetation biomass as well in net primary production (NPP), which leads to increasing the atmospheric emissions of some GHGs, thus accelerating global warming (GW). Mediterranean soils are prone to many forms of degradations, especially erosion, which increase the emission of GHGs into the atmosphere. Adopting good management practices and restoring degraded soils have the potential of sequestering more C and N, subsequently decreasing the emission of GHGs and mitigating the impacts of climate change. Therefore, this chapter addresses the previous issues in the Mediterranean climate.