When most people think of soils they just think of the “dirt” that they walk on everyday. Soil is so much more than though it is on of the most important recourses on our plant. In fact with out it humans and most other animals would not be able to survive. One of the biggest problems with soils today is poor management of them. This poor management leads to erosion and the depletion of nutrients from the soils. This is happening at very staggering rates. According to http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/eij/article/peak_soil/ 30% of earths farm land as become unproductive in just the past 40 years. This got me thinking about ” What would happen if this pace continued? and How long would it be until all the farms lands became unproductive.?”
100% / 30% per 40 years = 3.33 sets of 40 year periods
3.33× 40 years= approximately 130 years until there is no productive farm land
Very interesting. So either we need to come up with some way of creating new, useable soil or start learning how to treat our soil better. I would choose the latter, and if that didn’t work in time, then I would say we need to start figuring out how to make useable soil. Otherwise, we’ll soil the earth, and consequently the human race (and animals, etc.).
Therefore, we need to save soil and productive farmland!
Interesting topic ! However, I would like to learn more about soil, why it is one of the most important resources, and how it is related to sustainability.