One of the biggest concerns for the environment is soil degradation. Degradation is when soil health declines due to improper use or poor management. Most Americans are familiar with what happened during the Great Depression. Dust storms were a frequent occurrence. Soil erosion caused these massive dust storms. Through the years, farmers in this country learned their lesson. They began to practice better soil management. Unfortunately, however, there are still concerns about soil health. Throughout the world, the soil is eroding at a rapid rate. Every 5 seconds, the equivalent of one soccer field of soil erodes. If soil erosion continues, the earth will no longer be fertile. In turn, global food supplies and food safety will be threatened.
When soil is lost, it takes years to replace. It takes up to 1,000 years to produce just 2 to 3 cm of soil. It’s believed that up to 90% of the world’s land will be degraded by 2050. The situation is dire, which means there is no time to waste when it comes to saving our soil.
In 2002, the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) recommended an international day to celebrate soil. Under the leadership of the Kingdom of Thailand, the FAO supported the establishment of WSD. In 2013 the FAO Conference formally endorsed WSD. In December 2013, the UN General Assembly officially designated December 5th as World Soil Day, commemorating the birthday of the late H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He was the King of Thailand and one of the leading proponents of this initiative.
World Soil Day 2022 (#WorldSoilDay) and its campaign "Soils: Where food begins" aims to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being by addressing the growing challenges in soil management, increasing soil awareness and encouraging societies to improve soil health.
Source: www.un.org
No comments:
Post a Comment