Science, Language and Society: The Case of the "Humic Substances".

Science, Language and Society: the case of the "humic substances"

Markus Kleber and Johannes Lehmann

Population increase, loss of biodiversity, soil degradation and climate change are the four major global trends that threaten the suitability of the terrestrial biosphere as a habitat for the human species. Soil organic carbon is of direct or indirect concern for all attempts to counter or mitigate these trends. To organise succesful countermeasures, an objective rather than an operational perception of the physical and chemical nature of soil organic carbon is needed. This perception must be expressed and disseminated in terms of hard science, i.e. in a language determined by mechanistic rigor, exactitude and objectivity. In short, we must be able to precisely define and accurately measure what we are talking about. At present, we see much indifference within the scientific community towards this subject, inadvertantly supporting a booming industry involved in selling poorly defined "humic substances" to growers trying to manage their soils for better soil health. Here we show why and how uncritical use of this terminology will be detrimental to an understanding of causality and by extension, to responsible stewardship of the land.