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Tag Archives: soil degradation
Managing plant surplus carbon to generate soil organic matter in regenerative agriculture
Managing plant surplus carbon to generate soil organic matter in regenerative agriculture Soil degradation is a global problem. A third of the planet’s land is already severely degraded, and soil is being degraded at a speed that threatens the health of the planet and the civilizations that depend on it (Whitmee et al. 2015). Depletion […]
The Battle To Save Our Dying Soil
The Battle To Save Our Dying Soil This camp in southern Spain is finding ways to restore degraded land LA JUNQUERA, Spain ― In this sparsely populated region of rural Murcia in southern Spain, fields of thirsty almond trees eek sustenance out of the dusty soil and pale rocks tumble down slopes onto the sides of […]
Conflict Over the Future of the Planet
Conflict Over the Future of the Planet On this Earth Day, it is difficult to look at the state of the planet and the current political leadership and see much hope. In “Junk Planet”, Robert Burrowes writes a comprehensive description of the degradation of the atmosphere, oceans, waterways, groundwater, and soil as well as the […]
Betting the Earth on a Game of Wrap-Cut-Smash
Betting the Earth on a Game of Wrap-Cut-Smash Photo by Kevin Gill | CC BY 2.0 The Earth is having to deal with continuous, largely unchecked emissions of greenhouse gases, along with soil degradation, mass extinction of species, destruction of ecosystems, and disruption of nitrogen, phosphorous, and water cycles. Meanwhile, efforts to head off the […]
The Problem of Agriculture
The Problem of Agriculture This is an excerpt from the new book Plain Radical: Living, Loving, and Learning to Leave the Planet Gracefully, published by Counterpoint/Soft Skull, which tells the story of Robert Jensen’s intellectual and political collaboration with teacher/activist Jim Koplin. I was born and raised in North Dakota, a rural state with an economy […]
Growing Soil
Growing Soil Much of what I have learnt about soil comes from doing a two year apprenticeship at Stroud Community Agriculture and the influence of one of the farm team there who recently passed away, Ute. Digging couch out of the field with Ute was an exercise in plant observation, reading the landscape and soil craft; turning […]
Food Sovereignty
Food Sovereignty ‘Food sovereignty’ is fast becoming a lost concept; the right to have the knowledge and resources to grow our own food is an essential right. If we don’t have access to nutrient dense organic food, then where do we get the essential energy to heal our body, mind and spirit certainly not from […]
Albert Einstein, Soil, Honey Bees and Biodiversity.
Albert Einstein, Soil, Honey Bees and Biodiversity. Among the manifold quotes that are attributed to Albert Einstein, are variants along the lines of: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, […]
Soil Science Spelled It Out A Whole Century Ago
Soil Science Spelled It Out A Whole Century Ago An organic farm marketer brought me a strange book to read and I can’t get it out of my mind. It was written by Cyril Hopkins, an agronomist at the University of Illinois in 1911. Already a century ago, science had committed the wisdom of the ages […]
Global Soil Week: A catalyst for change
Global Soil Week: A catalyst for change As many of you already know, 2015 has been named the International Year of Soils by the UN, so never has there been a better time to get soil into the conversation. The question of ‘how do we make soil sexy?’ is something that has been troubling soil […]
The central contradiction in the modern outlook: ‘Planet of the Apes’ vs ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’
The central contradiction in the modern outlook: ‘Planet of the Apes’ vs ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ When talking about the perils of climate change or resource depletion, soil degradation or fisheries collapse, water pollution or nuclear waste–how annoying it is to have one listener respond dismissively, “They’ll figure something out. They always have.” It’s a […]
One-fifth of Global Farm Soil Degraded by Salt – Our World
One-fifth of Global Farm Soil Degraded by Salt – Our World. Salt is degrading one-fifth of the world’s irrigated land and causing around US$27.3 billion per year in economic losses, according to a new assessment from the United Nations University (UNU). That’s because every day for the past 20 years, an average of 2,000 hectares […]
