The impact of climate-induced extreme weather events on soil constraints and ecosystem functioning
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Date
2026
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer Nature
Abstract
Purpose
The term “climate change (CC)” describes changes in the Earth’s net energy balance that result in unanticipated changes in atmospheric temperature over time. Elevated levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere are often connected to the negative impacts of CC. Some of the direct negative impacts of CC include rise in sea-level, flooding and drought, wildfires, and rainfall inconsistency. These extreme weather events impact soil health by altering the soil physical (e.g., soil compaction), chemical (e.g., soil acidification) and biological (e.g., microbial diversity) constraints. Although there is a wealth of knowledge available regarding the impact of CC-induced extreme weather events on soil constraints, the interactions and mechanisms are still not fully understood. Hence, this review seeks to offer a thorough understanding of how droughts, floods, and wildfires induced by CC affect soil constraints and ecosystem functioning. This review also offers a deep insight into the effects of extreme weather events on soil nutrient levels and productivity.
Method
A literature search was carried out using the following search terms in Web of Science Core Collections: TS =(subject search “Climate change” OR “global warming” OR “extreme weather” OR “flooding” OR “drought” OR “wildfire” OR “storm” OR “Soil health” OR “pollutant”) AND TS = (climate crisis” OR “temperature rise” OR “climate disruption” OR “heat wave” OR “hurricane” OR “cyclone” OR “Plant productivity” OR “contaminant” OR “toxic”). In order to conduct bibliometric analysis, a keyword analysis algorithm was applied to extract 1,849 collections of keywords from 1,634 articles concerning climate change and extreme weather events that were published during the study period. To visualize networks of keyword co-occurrence, VOSviewer (version 1.6.20) was employed.
Conclusions
This review revealed that extreme weather events have strong impact on soil quality and its productivity, affecting the crop yield, which is a major concern of current agriculture practices and global food security. Thus, the most important management and adaptation strategies that improve soil resilience to extreme weather events are detailed in this review along with prospects for future research.
Description
Keywords
extreme weather events, climate change (CC), soil constraints, soil productivity, food security, adaptation and resilience
Citation
J Soils Sediments 26, 149 (2026)