Of all the environmental challenges we face, soil degradation is the most serious. Discuss this statement.
by
andrea_c (student)
Andrea Calderon
Environment and Sustainability
Essay
27.09.12
“Of all the environmental challenges we face, soil degradation is the most serious.” Discuss this statement.
Soil degradation is a severe reduction in the quality of soils. It involves both the physical loss and the reduction in quality of topsoil. It mostly includes erosion by wind and water, biological degradation (the loss of humus and plant/animal life), physical degradation (loss of structure, changes in permeability), and chemical degradation (acidification, declining fertility, changed in pH, etc.). It happens due to the replacement of primary plant communities by secondary communities. It is also the result of human failures to understand and manage the soil. An environmental challenge can be defined as an environmental factor that is being conflicted upon by society and resulting in negative consequences. Other major examples of environmental challenges are climate change, water shortage, and the loss of biodiversity. Soil degradation is definitely one of the most serious environmental challenges out there today; stating that it is the most serious, however, is debatable.
There are many explanations as to why soil degradation exists. Among the causes is the reduction of the natural vegetative cover which renders the topsoil more susceptible to erosion, as well as when huge areas of forest are cleared for logging, fuel wood, farming or other human uses. Unsustainable land-use practices such as excessive irrigation, inappropriate use of pesticides, and overgrazing by livestock are all huge factors which contribute to major soil degradation in an area. Physical degradation can be a result of groundwater over-abstraction which is the process of taking water from a ground source, either temporarily or permanently. Due to these factors, there are now more than 20 million square kilometers of degraded land worldwide. Overgrazing and agricultural mismanagement affect more than 12 million square kilometers of this land, and 20% of the world’s pasture and rangelands have been damaged. Some of the frequent effects of removing vegetation and topsoil are increased surface runoff and stream discharge, reduction of water infiltration and groundwater recharge, the development or erosional gullies and sand dunes, and the drying up of wells and springs. Unlike other environmental challenges such as water shortage, soil degradation could occur anywhere, not only in LEDCs. In fact, there is considerable soil degradation in richer countries such as the USA and Australia. In the central US, degradation is very severe. The Sahel has been one of the greatest victims to the effects of degradation. is an area of land south of the Sahara Desert, running from Mauritania in the west, through Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Sudan and across to Ethiopian in the west. It receives between 200mm and 600mm of rain annually. In recent years the Sahel has been suffering from increasing soil degradation and desertification. The main reasons for increasing soil degradation are population growth, deforestation, overgrazing, and rising temperatures. The rainfall that does take place tends to be shorter, more intense storms that have led to water erosion. It has cause many problems in the Sahel including famine, dust storms, and conflict over resources that are quickly diminishing.
