Digital ACT Reading Practice Question #840

Text 1 Advocates of conservation agriculture maintain that no-till farming is an indispensable weapon against climate change. By leaving crop residue undisturbed on field surfaces, no-till practices prevent soil organic matter from oxidizing into atmospheric carbon dioxide. Meta-analyses of topsoil layers (0–15 cm) demonstrate a consistent, substantial increase in organic carbon accumulation compared to conventionally tilled soils. Text 2 While no-till farming undeniably enhances carbon concentrations in the shallowest soil horizons, assessing the entire soil column paints a vastly more complicated picture. Conventional moldboard plowing mechanically incorporates crop biomass into deeper subsoils (30–60 cm), where slower microbial turnover stabilizes carbon for centuries. When researchers sample soils to a depth of one meter, total systemic carbon sequestration between no-till and conventionally tilled plots is statistically indistinguishable. Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the meta-analyses cited in Text 1?