Climate Central: Most earthworms may be tiny, but a new study suggests their impact on the climate could be mighty.
Researchers had long assumed the creepy crawlers help store carbon in soils by consuming fallen leaves and other decaying plant matter, which they deposit in soil in their cast, or droppings. But newer studies suggest the worms may actually increase soils' output of two key greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.
A new meta-analysis, published Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change,...