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Soil Loss - the TRUE Environmental Crisis
seattlepi.nwsource.com — Forget the junk science-based hysteria over the non-existent man-made "global warming" - agriculture is the true crisis. In this field, there are many concerns - lost bio-diversity, over-reliance on chemicals and hybrids, the basic issue of genetic manipulation itself - but none more fundamental than the loss of arable land.
Iconoclast25- 39 diggs
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- Iconoclast25, on 01/22/2008, -0/+14Mankind has been squandering its soil since the dawn of recorded history, but in the last two hundred years, the pace has increased, particularly so in the last seventy or so years. Those muddy rivers flowing to the sea carry the food stocks of future generations into oblivion and at the rate this is happening we will need to worry about starvation long before we run out of petroleum. If owl gore and his flock of celebidiots were to focus on soil conservation, they would do far more for humanity than their present quixotic publicity quest . . . but it might mean they would get their hands dirty.
- Navigator7, on 01/23/2008, -1/+4[Tongue in cheek]If the planet is 6 billion years old, and humans came out of the glop with a Darwinian pop, WTF is wrong with topsoil? Topsoil has humus and living organisms...have they not evolved? If topsoil develops at an 1/8th inch per year it should be 900,000' deep in some places. [/Tongue in cheek]
I agree with you.
I'd like to point out we all buy oil. Somehow, this makes the oil companies an evil entity, especially when they make a profit! ... The same profit Hillary wants to 'take' once she is anointed atop the throne.
By the same token... we all eat!
Does this make the farmers and ranches evil using the same logic as the Left uses on the oil companies?
The farmers and ranchers are not the evil ones its The Village.
One good way to save all our natural resources is to elect liberal nutcases who implement policies to dumb down our children, teach our children to become immoral citizens, abandon all the principles this country stands for so that our country can be taken away from us. Our country will run red with our own blood and we will return to the soil what we have taken.
If we continue to liberalize America, the loss of life will solve all planets woes by the simple absence of people. Besides...That way... our natural resources will becomes someone else problems. Similar to what clinton did when the first WTC bombing occurred, perhaps the Murrah Building and maybe flight 800.
Frankly, the citi-fied Left, radical environmental Left's programs inspire the loss of natural resources. The very thing they hope trying to protect. On second thought...that is, after all liberalism in action on whatever it touches. Consider logging, wildlands fire fighting, oil drilling and discovery, and salmon recovery. The effect of radical environmentalism has done serious damage in all these areas.
Hunger is the best motivation for resolving the topsoil problem via technology. Don't lay blame on American farmers and ranchers. They already have enough liberal inspired problems as it is.- Iconoclast25, on 01/23/2008, -0/+3Oh, I'm NOT blaming the producers - well, not the family / small producers . . . agribusiness is a different matter. I must note, though, that farmers and ranchers are not the only ones with MORE than "enough liberal inspired problems as it is." ;-)
- Navigator7, on 01/23/2008, -1/+4[Tongue in cheek]If the planet is 6 billion years old, and humans came out of the glop with a Darwinian pop, WTF is wrong with topsoil? Topsoil has humus and living organisms...have they not evolved? If topsoil develops at an 1/8th inch per year it should be 900,000' deep in some places. [/Tongue in cheek]
- GodzGurl59, on 01/22/2008, -1/+9As to algore, he can't make as much money on this topic. And really, we just want him to go away.
As to the soil, that was an interesting article. I saw a program once with the Amish I believe. They do not till the land that way others do. They leave the stuff left over and it in fact fertilizes and protects the land. It was quite an interesting program and could be done with farm equipment....not horse and plow, though with a horse you get extra benefits!!!
As to running out of petrol OR food, I do not believe that will be a problem. God isn't stupid and He still does have people to listen to Him. He is more than capable of making sure someone gets a clue and changes things. does He not care for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field?? How much more valuable to Him are you? You do not need to fear or worry....you do need to think and pray! Pray for witty inventions and then think of them!- Iconoclast25, on 01/22/2008, -0/+7When the first settlers crossed the mountains into the plains of the Midwest, the topsoil was three and four feet deep - the rotted remains of 10K years of plants, principally grasses. The root systems of the prairie grasses were so deep and dense, the first farmers had to break it up with axes before they could begin to plow. Today, the bulk of that soil is somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico and what remains is filled with man-made fertilizers. It doesn't take as long to create soil as it does petroleum, but neither occurs at a rate remotely compatible with our population growth. I'm not a believer, but I do remember one line (actually many) from my parents' efforts to make me one: "God helps those who help themselves." However the inspiration for better soil husbandry may come, we need to invest our talents wisely (another one I remember) to prevent further loss.
- GodzGurl59, on 01/22/2008, -0/+6I agree that we need to invest our talents wisely. BTW...."god helps those who help themselves" isn't in the bible. hehehe...but he does expect us to use our brains and do our part. I am sorry if you thought I was "preaching" at you. My intent was to encourage, not preach....though sometimes they sound the same. LOL!
- Iconoclast25, on 01/22/2008, -0/+7When the first settlers crossed the mountains into the plains of the Midwest, the topsoil was three and four feet deep - the rotted remains of 10K years of plants, principally grasses. The root systems of the prairie grasses were so deep and dense, the first farmers had to break it up with axes before they could begin to plow. Today, the bulk of that soil is somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico and what remains is filled with man-made fertilizers. It doesn't take as long to create soil as it does petroleum, but neither occurs at a rate remotely compatible with our population growth. I'm not a believer, but I do remember one line (actually many) from my parents' efforts to make me one: "God helps those who help themselves." However the inspiration for better soil husbandry may come, we need to invest our talents wisely (another one I remember) to prevent further loss.
- Rehnborg, on 01/22/2008, -1/+5UNREAL....If it's not one thing it's always another.
This story is dirt - whodat51773, on 01/22/2008, -0/+9The greatest military is defenseless without FOOD!
- Iconoclast25, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1Indeed. Napoleon's famous dictum: "An army marches on its stomach."
- rjwusa, on 01/23/2008, -0/+5Wasn't soil erosion a huge issue in the 70s, along with the 'population bomb' and global cooling? We as a nation must invest in technology to preserve and replenish the soil so that we can remain the bread basket of the world. It's the smart thing to do.
- exciplex2000, on 01/23/2008, -0/+5This is what's necessary - look up "terra preta" - a human-directed, self-propagating soil, so effective that it drove Amazonians off their land! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta
- Iconoclast25, on 01/23/2008, -0/+4WOW - what an incredibly interesting article. THANK YOU for referencing it. Isn't it amazing how earlier technologies can sometimes surpass those of today?
- rjwusa, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1So...
Does this kind of soil become a carbon dioxide sink? Or does more carbon dioxide get placed into the atmosphere in the making of this type of soil? In other words, does the benefit of manufacture of the soil outweigh the risk to the environment? - ElWizardo, on 01/23/2008, -1/+1"... so effective that it drove Amazonians off their land!"
Do you people know how to read? And if you do, do you read science or history books?
1. They were on the run from the Spanish to get away from decease and splinted into small groups. The soil had nothing to do with it.
2. Charcoal is used for many types of filtration. So it's not a CO2 sink but a scrubber.
3. It would be to expensive to produce since it requires the burning of trees. Trees create wind breaks and prevent dust bowls. Plus they help hold moisture in the soil and roots hold the soil in place.
This is what pisses me off. You guys want to deal with the problems caused by global warming but not global warming itself. Just like Big Medicine... there's no money in cures, just treatments. Morons.- Iconoclast25, on 01/23/2008, -0/+3People read well enough to know this thread has nothing to do with the chimera of anthroGW, but never mind - your sky is falling.
It is an interesting article in its own right. Whether the material can be replicated without "slash and char" of a rain forest is an open question, but at least it is under investigation.
And if you wish to be taken seriously, "moron," try learning the language, or at least try to proof read . . . "decease and splinted" . . . how droll . . . one benefit of a " 'progressive' education, " no doubt.- ElWizardo, on 01/23/2008, -1/+1I wrote that while taking care of my infant triplets... What useless activity were you doing when you tried to spin this article with your right wing tripe. You don't even understand what there talking about. And with a misspelled word, I still made more sense than the flies that hovered around your mental leavings.
- Iconoclast25, on 01/23/2008, -0/+2Well, given such a persuasive response, I suppose it *would* be a 'useless activity' to note that the loss of cropland is *NOT* contradicted by extensive data as is the case with the myth of anthroGW. I also suppose noting your most recent reply here, presumably without the distractions, is an equally unlettered effort, but I will leave it to others to make "there" own judgments about "your mental leavings." In the interim and utter seriousness, I would suggest you be more concerned with what you will feed your triplets when they develop into the black holes (an allusion to astronomy, not an insult) of the teen years and can devour the contents of a refrigerator faster than a school of piranha can strip a cow, rather than wasting your time pursuing the goreacle's illusory scam of anthroGW. Good luck with the three at once (seriously).
- Iconoclast25, on 01/23/2008, -0/+2Well, given such a persuasive response, I suppose it *would* be a 'useless activity' to note that the loss of cropland is *NOT* contradicted by extensive data as is the case with the myth of anthroGW. I also suppose noting your most recent reply here, presumably without the distractions, is an equally unlettered effort, but I will leave it to others to make "there" own judgments about "your mental leavings." In the interim and utter seriousness, I would suggest you be more concerned with what you will feed your triplets when they develop into the black holes (an allusion to astronomy, not an insult) of the teen years and can devour the contents of a refrigerator faster than a school of piranha can strip a cow, rather than wasting your time pursuing the goreacle's illusory scam of anthroGW. Good luck with the three at once (seriously).
- ElWizardo, on 01/23/2008, -1/+1I wrote that while taking care of my infant triplets... What useless activity were you doing when you tried to spin this article with your right wing tripe. You don't even understand what there talking about. And with a misspelled word, I still made more sense than the flies that hovered around your mental leavings.
- Navigator7, on 01/23/2008, -0/+2Elwizardo wrote: "Just like Big Medicine... there's no money in cures, just treatments. Morons."
The same could be said for Global Warming. Until Global Waring proponents embrace their science critics, they remain charlatans. In the world of man, its far more likely Global Warming is a socialist push for power and money be scaring the people into giving up freedom, liberty and control of their government.
- Iconoclast25, on 01/23/2008, -0/+3People read well enough to know this thread has nothing to do with the chimera of anthroGW, but never mind - your sky is falling.
- ElWizardo, on 01/24/2008, -2/+1My children will be fed in both mind and body. But in the event of GW there is always Soylent Green. Only in America is this Al Gore's Global Warming, while the majority of the world views it as a global enviromental issue not teathered to political view or gains. No wonder we are laughing stocks... with our "If we can't have it, nobody can!" attitude. You are willing to jeopordize your home for a political view. Would you let a family member die in a fire if the one man that can save them is a liberal athiest pro-choice treehugger. Most would not. But the question is, why take the chance that GW may be false... and all for money and oil. I don't remember the US turning Commie when CFC's and Pesticides were pulled and clean air and water bills were created in the 70's in order to save the ozone layer and the American Bald Eagle. What it did do is create new way of doing things. Necessity is the mother of invention, and with that we could bring the world clamoring to us for energy and the technologies rather than us begging the Saudis for price breaks. What a bunch of pussies we are. You would rather follow than lead? We would bring jobs back to the US and diversity in energy as well as clean the air. But since Al Gore brought it to the forefront it's a leftwing conspiracies and propaganda. They want us to be healthy, well oxygenated and clear headed so we can think like liberals. Quick, chop down the swamps and burn the oceans... How dare you treehuggers give my children a better place to live with good tech jobs and opportunitie I never had.
- ElWizardo, on 01/24/2008, -1/+2BTW, my ex-military, Republican co-worker brings up a good point... The main countries that are against the GW idea are communist and ex-socialist countries as well as nations that support terrorism (oil producers)... interesting...
- InRussetShadows, on 02/10/2008, -0/+1So who supports an idea is more important than the merits of the idea itself? BTW, the mythical man in my bathroom says that you eat too much fiber.
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