20161220

Only 60 Years of Farming Left If Soil Degradation Continues



DATE: 20/12/2016
AUTHOR: CHRIS ARSENAULT
SOURCE: SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

Generating three centimeters of top soil takes 1,000 years, and if current rates of degradation continue all of the world's top soil could be gone within 60 years, a senior UN official said

ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Generating three centimeters of top soil takes 1,000 years, and if current rates of degradation continue all of the world's top soil could be gone within 60 years, a senior UN official said on Friday.

About a third of the world's soil has already been degraded, Maria-Helena Semedo of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) told a forum marking World Soil Day.

The causes of soil destruction include chemical-heavy farming techniques, deforestation which increases erosion, and global warming. The earth under our feet is too often ignored by policymakers, experts said.

READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE @ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/only-60-years-of-farming-left-if-soil-degradation-continues/

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