Extreme weather encouraged by climate change is eroding our soil and stripping away vegetative cover in vast swathes. In addition, human endeavor aided by droughts is eroding the surface, and compacting it for urban development. This soil damage compromises our planet in two ways.
Two Ways Soil Damage Compromises Our Earth
First, soil damage affects the ability of plants to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. Then secondly it releases soil carbon that worms stored by taking leaf matter underground. This process took millennia to complete. Therefore, this is not something we can put back by 2050
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IBPES) will officially repeat this warning Monday May 6, 2019. It hopes this will encourage member nations to work together on this vital issue. IBPES chair Prof Sir Bob Watson warns almost half the world’s population suffers under the impact of soil damage.
There’s No Question About the Damage We Are Causing
Moreover, many of these 3.2 billion people are already poor and undernourished. “We are losing the organic carbon from the soil and this undermines agricultural productivity and contributes to climate change. Thus we absolutely have to restore the degraded soil we’ve got,” Prof Watson says.
“Governments have focused on climate change far more than they have focused on loss of biodiversity or land degradation. All three are equally important to human wellbeing,” he insists.
Prof Jane Rickson from Cranfield University warns, “That’s because the thin layer of soil covering the Earth’s surface represents the difference between survival and extinction for most terrestrial life.
“Only 3% of the planet’s surface is suitable for arable production. However, an alarming 75 billion tons of fertile soil is lost to land degradation every year.” Soils form at a rate of one centimeter every 300 years. We will follow up with what we can do to help reverse soil damage on Friday, May 5 2019.
Related
Microbes Mammoths & Climate Allies
Extinction Rebellion in London What It Means
Preview Image: Land Degradation Caused by Over Grazing
