Wind-blown dust particles do not harm only the health of people and animals, they also damage young plants and crops. As an important project for soil and water conservation in the semi-arid environment, the Grain-for-Green extensively transformed a wide range of farmland into vegetated land after the 1980s. more susceptible to wind erosion causing an increase in overall air pollution Studies in Iowa, USA, which is known for it’s rich fertile soils, found that due to erosion; the average depth of the topsoil decreased from around 40cm to around 20cm in around a century. These wind-blown particles then deposit somewhere else – very often in the least suitable places like roads, crop fields or private properties. Eroded soil, which can contain nutrients, fertilisers and herbicides or pesticides, can be deposited where there is a reduction in the slope of the land. Meaning that they are only around for one year rather than a ‘perennial’ plant that remains over many years. Agricultural fertilizers can cause eutrophication and mass dying of aquatic life. (3). Soil erosion is an unfathomable enemy that often goes unnoticed right in front of our eyes and slowly eat away the most precious resource we have – our soil. Less organic matter content in the soil also leads to increased rates of erosion. Since water comes with a great destructive power, with every new storm it will cut deeper and deeper into the trail, transforming it completely. accumulated over centuries and so once it is lost it won’t be returning within He is on a mission to build a community of people that are passionate about solving environmental problems. A new study backed by the United Nations estimates that one third of all the land is severely degraded worldwide [14]. The deposition of silt in water courses often obstructs their natural path. According to scientists who investigated the conditions in the area, rapid urban development with large construction projects is one of the main reasons for these high rates of soil loss. But the area is naturally very dry, and the land couldn’t support crops that were not adapted to the climate like the native grasses were. (2), Studies, in fact, show that just reducing forest cover below 60% is enough to cause serious soil erosion. Tourism and recreational activities often damage ecosystems, especially if the number of tourists in a given area is greater than the ecosystem capacity to deal with it. This is another reason why maintaining good soil health should be our priority. Increased runoff, for example, leads to frequent flooding after rain, while soil overall becomes drier because it loses its water holding capacity over the long term. As the soil quality decreases due to erosion, farmers have to resort to trying to get more life out of the dying substance. Land that was previously a home to lush forests and prospering ecosystems is turned into lifeless swaths of mud and post-mining craters filled with water that was pumped there under pressure to help uncover amber deposits underneath. Research has shown that erosion rates of soils in deforested land reached over 1500 times greater than those in forested land prior to deforestation! You may notice this development after flooding. Just the global events of the summer 2018 demonstrate the great destructive power of climate change. erosion?eval(ez_write_tag([[580,400],'innovate_eco_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_2',114,'0','0'])); Trees are vital in preventing soil erosion for a number of reasons. The contamination or degradation of soils impacts heavily on the health of plants. Soil erosion is the weathering away of topsoil caused by water, wind or tillage. in certain areas. Researchers found out that loosen piles of earth removed from construction projects degrade more than 10 times faster than normal soils. You can be the one who takes over this task and becomes the facilitator of the change for better soils. All these factors and their combinations can cause erosion under certain circumstances. We can see the effect of this after heavy rains when small water streams find their way down a hiking trail. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the yearly cost of fixing the damage caused by sedimentation rises as high as $US 16 billion in the United States. Chen, Shiping, et al. Mining, one of the activities that enabled the growth of our economies, has severely scared the face of our planet and destroyed many unique habitats without mercy. In a warming climate, many areas of the planet are experiencing higher temperatures. For example, most cultivated lands in Iowa lose to erosion two to five tons of topsoil per acre per year [10]. 2014 was one such year when Iowa lost 14 million tonnes of soil. On its own, soil is a unique and complex ecosystem that provides us access to the resources we need to sustain life. eval(ez_write_tag([[468,60],'innovate_eco_com-banner-1','ezslot_4',108,'0','0'])); Tilling soil involves turning the top layer of soil that has become compacted to make it suitable for planting seeds. Wind erosion does not only leave behind nutrient deprived soils that cannot support living vegetation, and thus make the situation even worse, but it also leads to a more serious problem in the long term – desertification. soils a year or two between harvests for soils to recover slightly. A drier soil is more easily eroded by the wind, as you can imagine through the imagery of dust storms in deserts and other dry regions. Cities are also characteristic with large amounts of impervious surfaces that do not allow water to infiltrate into the ground at all. Even the costs of losing such an important resource are incredibly high. Decreasing arable land in one area while replenishing the soil in another, desertification, silting of stream beds decreasing fish populations … Without healthy soils life cannot exist. When left ‘fallow’ For example, researchers from the Plymouth University in the United Kingdom were appointed to investigate alarming levels of soil erosion in Tanzania. is an entirely natural process that has occurred on planet earth for millions This increases the surface runoff which washes off fragmented pieces of soil in between. Off-site economic effects of erosion are related to the damage to civil structure, siltation of water ways and reservoirs, and additional costs involved in water treatment. Secondly, these soils are often high in nutrients, both naturally (as most organic matter is in the topsoil) but also due to the amount of fertilizer that is present in agricultural soils. The reason for this is that erosion is caused by numerous factors, originating from both natural processes and human activities. the world’s population grows at 1.1% per year. Soil erodibility is the natural susceptibility of a soil to erosion. soil to remove weeds too. Soil erosion, or the gradual reduction of topsoil in a geographic area, can be caused by both natural and unnatural processes, but it can also have great effects on inhabitants of an affected area. When erosion takes place, soil particles get loosen by water, wind or gravitational pull and can be easily carried away by the repeated action of these forces. Humans are also affected in numerous ways either directly or indirectly. disturbed. One solution to this may therefore be to start looking When topsoil erodes away, nutrient and organic material is lost and only compacted clayish soils with poor structure remain behind. the soil or evaporate off the leaves before getting chance. All this interception prevents rain from directly hitting the soil which causes erosion as the droplets dislodge soil particles and wash them away, 3) Groups of trees in a woodland prevent wind erosion. However, this strategy is only a short-term fix to get the last bit of harvest from damaged soils. (5). Erosion from the wind causes particles of soil to become suspended in the air. This loss of productive farmland is worrying as the global population continues to grow, we are having to feed it on less land. These smaller particles of soil created by the tilling process are much lighter and can be eroded by wind or washed away by a heavy rain shower. This increases the risk of flooding and further enhances erosion of water banks, since the water seeks the way to flow around a newly created obstruction. It is so much soil that it doesn’t go unnoticed. Approaching the enemy is much easier when entire armies are hidden in the dust, but all followi… There are numerous reports regarding the on-site effects of erosion on productivity. With previously cultivated lands turning into deserts, many communities across the world are losing their only chance of providing enough food for themselves or their livestock. Effect Of Water Erosion On The Environment - Water erosion is the washing away of top soil by water and this has different effects on the environment depending on the type of water erosion that is involved. Vegetation and top soil layers are removed and high amounts of waste from the deep layers are brought up to the surface where they often remain deposited without any further management, even though they usually contain various mineral deposits that can create a toxic cocktail after the exposure to water and oxygen. The loss of topsoil is what decreases the productivity of soils and negatively affects our capability to grow crops on them. The accumulation of soil sediments in drainage's and along embankments can reduce their operational lifetime and efficiency. asthma which is directly linked to airborne dust. towards more perennial crops, ones that last longer than a single year. vegetation making it less likely to blow away the valuable top soil layer. Nearly 10 million hectares of arable land are lost to erosion and other forms of soil degradation every year [1]. link to Fairphone vs. Second-Hand Phone: Which is More Eco-Friendly? This leads to the increased surface runoff, which initiates the following forms of erosion. (4), But as these soils become degraded that carbon is lost back to the atmosphere. ; Rawatc, M.S. eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'innovate_eco_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_3',112,'0','0'])); Erosion from the wind causes particles of soil to become And even though the soil was healthy and resistant prior deforestation, after clearing, it will be easily washed away by rain. Once washed or blown into these waterbodies the soil causes other issues. Deforestation is common across the planet and has been for Over the past 10 years, vast areas of Tanzanian landscape suffered extensive damage due to erosion caused by vegetation loss combined with climatic factors – long periods of drought are subsequently followed by heavy rains during the rainy season. Plants and trees help stabilize soils and protect them from the direct exposure to rain or wind. Once these agricultural lands are created, the soils are repeatedly disturbed every year before the crops are planted in a process known as tillage. Unfortunately, some countries experience the problem more than others. This is not a perfect solution as even the perennial crops Before we start, it is worth pointing out that soil erosion This results in the loss of topsoil and will affect the health of the whole ecosystem as well as our capability to make the use of it – for growing crops, for example. Land degradation is defined as the long-term loss of soil productivity and ability to provide crucial ecosystem services for the proper health and functioning of our planet. effects of soil erosion 1. processes that shape earth’s surface 1.1 weathering and soil erosion science 5 2. investigate extent of soil erosion in the community and its effects on living things and the environment; 3. The first and the most troublesome effect of overgrazing is soil erosion. Humans speed up this process by construction, mining, and … We can observe the formation of a small channel (rill) created by running water after the storm. Although this occurs naturally, degraded, drier soils are Flowing water bodies such as rivers or streams put continuous pressure on the walls and the bottom of their channel. (1). In particularly bad years when storms combine with dry weather, huge amounts of topsoil can be lost in one year. many places left to farm! Rob is the head writer at Innovate Eco sharing knowledge and passion cultivated over 10 years working in the Environmental Sector. The amount and intensity of precipitation, number of windy days, wind power, droughts, flooding or sudden weather changes. This network that is created weaves through the top layer of soil and binds it all together, keeping it in place and preventing soil erosion. better job of holding the soil together and helping prevent erosion. Pimentel, David, and Nadia Kounang. water droplets are slowed right down and may either gradually make their way to They are also important in military operations. The Simpson Desert Conservation Park in Queensland, Australia, featuring large sand dunes including the popular ‘Big Red’ dune, is an area that demonstrates the power of long-term wind erosion and gradual particle deposition [4]. One dust storm creating a wall of 2 miles and traveling over 2,000 miles even reached the New York City, giving the first-hand experience of powerful erosive forces to its residents [8]. This is perhaps an all too familiar story for farmers from Madagascar. Land use land cover changes (LULCC) are considered as the most significant cause of sediment transport. One of the most talked about effects of climate change is a changing rainfall pattern. But during the deforestation when forests are clear cut or burned down in the ‘slash-and-burn’ practice, soil stability is disturbed. Firstly, it makes it difficult for sunlight to penetrate meaning any aquatic plants in the water that need this light for photosynthesis no longer receive it and end up dying. Part of Springer Nature 2018 175 K. Lorenz and R. Lal, Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Ecosystems, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92318-5_4. Erosion affects the environment by stripping away top soil on agricultural land, damaging delicate coastal areas, causing health problems in humans and contaminating bodies of water with sediment that can harm plant and animal life. However, in breaking up the soils and destroying the structure this accelerates erosion. link to Are Cruises Bad for the Environment? According to a scientific study in Sahara desert, sand dunes can move by 50 to 295 feet throughout one year. Such a high rate of erosion, worsened by climate change, threatens to turn 90 percent of the Mongolian territory into a desert [12]. 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