We take the soil of our planet as a natural feature and an endless resource but it takes 1000 years to make 3 mm of topsoil and we are losing it very quickly.
Maria-Helena Semedo of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) told a forum marking World Soil Day.
Maria-Helena Semedo of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) told a forum marking World Soil Day.
Due to a combination of industrialised farming, land clearance and soil erosion plus land for cities and climate change within 60 years there will only be a quarter of the soil left compared to 1960.
When the increasing population is considered together with loss of food production due to increasing temperatures and rising sea levels inundating farmland with salt water the future is looking fairly bleak.
When the increasing population is considered together with loss of food production due to increasing temperatures and rising sea levels inundating farmland with salt water the future is looking fairly bleak.
In my own region of North East New Zealand which is a temperate region without heavy industrialised farming or big cities, the estuaries are filling with soil from the streams, spoiling the marine nurseries for fish reproduction and shell fish life.
Even in an area of reducing precipitation erosion from flood damage can be increasing.
Even in an area of reducing precipitation erosion from flood damage can be increasing.
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