PWS150 Final Paper

The Truth Behind Soil Erosion

What is one of the most overlooked problems in the world we live in today?   One might say that soil erosion is often overlooked.  The problem of soil erosion has been around for many years now, but is just now starting to be recognized as one of the most important environmental problems that our Earth faces today.

So, what exactly is soil erosion?  Why is it a problem?   Soil erosion can easily be described as the wearing away of the land.  Soil erosion is caused by natural forces such as the flowing of water, rainfall, wind, etc.  So, what can we do to stop this?  You see, soil erosion isn’t limited to natural forces.  Humans accelerate soil erosion by tillage and other activities.  Some other activities may include deforestation, overgrazing and removing crop residue.  These activities degrade the soil and become a threat to it.  Overall, soil erosion is any activity that moves geological matter from one area to another.

Although it may sound harmless, soil erosion, if left unchecked, can become a huge issue on Earth.  As the world’s population increases by tens of millions of people each year, the Earth loses almost 37,000 square miles of available cropland each year due to soil erosion.  With 99.7% of all human food coming from croplands, we can’t afford to be losing such a vast amount of usable land at such a rapid rate.

Action needs to be taken to reduce soil erosion, and it needs to be taken now.  The US is losing soil 10 times faster that the natural replenish rate.  The economic impact of soil erosion in the United States costs the nation about $37.6 billion each year in productivity losses.  The damage caused by soil erosion worldwide is estimated to be $400 billion per year.  With such drastic numbers, we need to act before it is too late.

There’s even more problems.  About 60% of the soil that is washed away ends up in rivers, streams and lakes.  The soil makes these waters more prone to flooding and contamination due to the soil’s fertilizers and pesticides.  Also, soil erosion reduces the soil’s ability to store water and support plant growth.  This reduces the soil’s ability to support biodiversity.  Soil erosion promotes critical losses of water, nutrients, soil organic matter and soil biota, harming forests, rangelands and natural ecosystems.  One final fact is erosion increases the amount of dust carried by the wind.  Not only does this dust pollute the air, it also carries disease organisms that can cause problems for humans, such as anthrax and tuberculosis.

While there aren’t people that are “pro” soil erosion, the issue at hand is whether we need to act to protect our soil.  The two sides to this argument are:

A.        We need to act now, before it’s too late and we can’t grow enough food to support ourselves.

B.        We don’t need to really worry about this, it will work itself out.  We can’t really stop soil erosion without causing food shortage problems, or spending millions, if not billions of dollars.

I think that we need to take solution A.  I feel that soil erosion is going to become an even bigger issue than it is now.  While we may never have to face consequences of soil erosion during our lifetime, maybe our children or our children’s children will.  While it is true that we can’t be sure what will happen in regards to soil erosion in the future, we still need to be safe and take action now.  We don’t want to put ourselves in a situation we can’t fix.