[ExI] Top Soil Depletion

[BillK]

On Sat, 10 Feb 2024 at 08:10, Kelly Anderson via extropy-chat
<extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
> We hear a lot about global warming and how that's going to ruin the
> planet. We even occasionally hear about fossil water tables being
> lowered and how that affects agriculture. But we hear much less about
> soil depletion and how that might affect the future. Soil takes
> thousands of years to accumulate, but is depleted by farming
> accelerated erosion to perhaps 1% per year. What that means of course
> is that we'll have less than half the soil in the middle of the USA in
> 80 years than we have now, and that could lead to a difficult
> situation for any organic humans left at that point. I wonder if there
> would ever be a point where "fossil" soils, such as those in various
> deltas around the world, would be mined, somehow desalinated,
> reconditioned and put back onto fields... It's a little bit like
> taking carbon out of the atmosphere... and that seems unlikely to be a
> huge thing anytime soon... but we're here thinking big thoughts about
> big futures, so I'm curious if anyone has given this particular idea
> any deep consideration.
>
> -Kelly
> _______________________________________________


The characteristic of humans to ignore increasing problems until they
become serious is a well-documented phenomenon. This behaviour is
often attributed to the perceived expense and inconvenience associated
with addressing these problems, as well as the consideration of how
soon they are likely to impact one's lifestyle.

Climate change was once viewed as a future threat. Now we see rising
sea levels, extreme weather events, and melting glaciers as reminders.
And when my winter ski holiday is facing a lack of snow on the best
runs, it is getting serious! :)
Ground water depletion is also getting increasing attention as wells
dry up worldwide, forcing communities into urgent solutions.

Top soil depletion is a longer term issue, decades in the future.
So we hope that we can leave that problem for future generations to face.
That might be a big mistake, if we fail to deal with our own more immediate
problems.
Can we pass all the environmental issues on to future generations?



BillK