Food
,
Soil + Water + Seed + Light = Food, Livestock + Water + Food = Food
Water Scarcity: UN Water
- 72% of all water withdrawals are used by agriculture, 16% by municipalities for households and services, and 12% by industries. (UN-Water 2021)
- When a territory withdraws 25% or more of its renewable freshwater resources it is said to be ‘water-stressed’.
Interdependency
Food does not grow without soil, water, and light, that is the basics. Where we go astray is in our lack of understanding of diversity, balance, replenishment, and waste. Our understanding of agriculture and how our planet works is in its infancy, yet we have arrogantly set forth to prove we can do better that the natural order by industrializing the process. There are always choices and with them consequences. The choices we have made are showing clear consequences that may starve us into extinction in this century. Harsh, yes, but also a real possibility if we allow things to continue as they are.
Issues
Why Is Soil Erosion Such a Big Problem?
Soil is a natural resource that may look robust and endless, but is in fact the fragile product of thousands of years of formation. Topsoil, which lies closest to the surface of the land, contains essential nutrients for crops. It is this layer of soil that is endangered by wind and water erosion. Soil erosion decreases soil fertility, which can negatively affect crop yields. It also sends soil-laden water downstream, which can create heavy layers of sediment that prevent streams and rivers from flowing smoothly and can eventually lead to flooding. Once soil erosion occurs, it is more likely to happen again.
This is a global problem. Soil is eroding more quickly than it is being formed, causing land to become unsuitable for agriculture – a particularly serious concern in a world where the population is expected to top 9 billion by midcentury. Smarter land management is a necessity.
How Does Soil Erosion Affect Climate Change?
Erosion degrades land, which means it can support fewer plants that can take in climate-warming carbon dioxide. Soils themselves could potentially sequester enough greenhouse gases in a year to equal about 5% of all annual human-made GHG emissions. Better land management can help keep soils intact so they can grow more carbon-sucking vegetation. This is already happening in China, where the Grain-for-Green project in the Yellow River basin conserved soil and water and reduced carbon emissions.
On the flip side, unchecked climate change can worsen erosion. A report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that when cultivated without conservation practices, soil is currently eroding up to 100 times quicker than it’s forming. The risk of erosion will become even higher in the future due to emissions-driven temperature changes, with resulting decreases in agricultural production, land value and human health.
What Are the Impacts of Soil Erosion?
We’re already seeing the risks of soil erosion play out around the world. Jakarta’s deadly floods earlier this year are a prime example. Eroded sediments from further upstream clogged Jakarta’s rivers and canals, causing them to overflow. Similar erosion-related floods have occurred in many other countries, such as Colombia, India, the Philippines and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Soil erosion is not only an environmental issue; it also causes huge losses to the economy. One study estimated global economic losses from soil erosion to be around $8 billion, due to reduced soil fertility, decreased crop yields and increased water usage. In Java, Indonesia, soil erosion is responsible for a 2% loss in total agricultural GDP, taking into account the losses farmers face directly and the losses others face downstream. Another study showed that soil erosion in Sleman, a district located in Java, costs 17% of an average farmer’s net income per hectare of agricultural land.
The U.S. agricultural sector loses about $44 billion per year from erosion. This value includes lost productivity, along with sedimentation and water pollution. Lost farm income is estimated at $100 million per year. Soil erosion also costs European countries $1.38 billion in annual agricultural productivity losses and $171 million in lost GDP (about 1% of total GDP). South Asia loses $10 billion annually thanks to soil erosion.
*The Causes and Effects of Soil Erosion, and How to Prevent It: 2020, World Resources Institute (WRI)
Soil is a natural resource that may look robust and endless, but is in fact the fragile product of thousands of years of formation. Topsoil, which lies closest to the surface of the land, contains essential nutrients for crops. It is this layer of soil that is endangered by wind and water erosion. Soil erosion decreases soil fertility, which can negatively affect crop yields. It also sends soil-laden water downstream, which can create heavy layers of sediment that prevent streams and rivers from flowing smoothly and can eventually lead to flooding. Once soil erosion occurs, it is more likely to happen again.
This is a global problem. Soil is eroding more quickly than it is being formed, causing land to become unsuitable for agriculture – a particularly serious concern in a world where the population is expected to top 9 billion by midcentury. Smarter land management is a necessity.
How Does Soil Erosion Affect Climate Change?
Erosion degrades land, which means it can support fewer plants that can take in climate-warming carbon dioxide. Soils themselves could potentially sequester enough greenhouse gases in a year to equal about 5% of all annual human-made GHG emissions. Better land management can help keep soils intact so they can grow more carbon-sucking vegetation. This is already happening in China, where the Grain-for-Green project in the Yellow River basin conserved soil and water and reduced carbon emissions.
On the flip side, unchecked climate change can worsen erosion. A report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that when cultivated without conservation practices, soil is currently eroding up to 100 times quicker than it’s forming. The risk of erosion will become even higher in the future due to emissions-driven temperature changes, with resulting decreases in agricultural production, land value and human health.
What Are the Impacts of Soil Erosion?
We’re already seeing the risks of soil erosion play out around the world. Jakarta’s deadly floods earlier this year are a prime example. Eroded sediments from further upstream clogged Jakarta’s rivers and canals, causing them to overflow. Similar erosion-related floods have occurred in many other countries, such as Colombia, India, the Philippines and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Soil erosion is not only an environmental issue; it also causes huge losses to the economy. One study estimated global economic losses from soil erosion to be around $8 billion, due to reduced soil fertility, decreased crop yields and increased water usage. In Java, Indonesia, soil erosion is responsible for a 2% loss in total agricultural GDP, taking into account the losses farmers face directly and the losses others face downstream. Another study showed that soil erosion in Sleman, a district located in Java, costs 17% of an average farmer’s net income per hectare of agricultural land.
The U.S. agricultural sector loses about $44 billion per year from erosion. This value includes lost productivity, along with sedimentation and water pollution. Lost farm income is estimated at $100 million per year. Soil erosion also costs European countries $1.38 billion in annual agricultural productivity losses and $171 million in lost GDP (about 1% of total GDP). South Asia loses $10 billion annually thanks to soil erosion.
*The Causes and Effects of Soil Erosion, and How to Prevent It: 2020, World Resources Institute (WRI)
Soil Erosion: causes and impacts (Union of Concerned Scientists)
Erosion occurs when soil is displaced by wind or water—washed off farms and deposited in ditches and streams, or blown across the landscape as dust.
Healthy soil resists erosion well, especially if it is protected by plants above ground and roots below-ground year-round (which is one of the reasons why cover crops are so important).
But when soil is left bare and becomes damaged and depleted—dry, compacted, and low in organic matter—then wind and water can more easily displace it. The results can be catastrophic, as the Great Plains region of the central United States discovered in the 1930s. But even small changes year after year can gradually cause big problems.
While erosion rates have recently declined somewhat since consistent measurements began in 1982, soil loss continues at a rate that threatens farm legacies. These erosion rates are one of the reasons why, from 1982 to 2015, the area of prime farmland as defined by the NRCS shrank by 25.8 million acres—that's roughly the size of the state of Ohio.
In addition, climate change threatens to amplify erosion impacts over coming decades, as floods and droughts are expected to grow more severe across much of the nation's farmland.
Erosion occurs when soil is displaced by wind or water—washed off farms and deposited in ditches and streams, or blown across the landscape as dust.
Healthy soil resists erosion well, especially if it is protected by plants above ground and roots below-ground year-round (which is one of the reasons why cover crops are so important).
But when soil is left bare and becomes damaged and depleted—dry, compacted, and low in organic matter—then wind and water can more easily displace it. The results can be catastrophic, as the Great Plains region of the central United States discovered in the 1930s. But even small changes year after year can gradually cause big problems.
While erosion rates have recently declined somewhat since consistent measurements began in 1982, soil loss continues at a rate that threatens farm legacies. These erosion rates are one of the reasons why, from 1982 to 2015, the area of prime farmland as defined by the NRCS shrank by 25.8 million acres—that's roughly the size of the state of Ohio.
In addition, climate change threatens to amplify erosion impacts over coming decades, as floods and droughts are expected to grow more severe across much of the nation's farmland.
For details and source information, see the 2020 UCS report Eroding the Future (https://ucsusa.org/resources/eroding-future)
The future of soil in the balance: projecting erosion losses
What can US farmers expect the future of soil to look like? We developed projections for soil erosion over the next 15 years (to 2035) and the next 80 years (to 2100), using three scenarios:
*How Soil Erosion Threatens Our Food and Farm Future, Union of Concerned Scientists
What can US farmers expect the future of soil to look like? We developed projections for soil erosion over the next 15 years (to 2035) and the next 80 years (to 2100), using three scenarios:
- Pathway 1: Business as usual. In this case, we assumed that erosion rates would proceed at currently reported national average levels.
- Pathway 2: Increased erosion. In this case, we considered the possibility that erosion rates could increase back to their 1982 levels (the highest levels reported in the National Resources Inventory) over the next 15 years, due to a combination of more damaging land management practices, land use change, and exacerbated erosion rates due to climate change.
- Pathway 3: Reduced erosion. For this case, we considered the possibility that increased use of soil health practices could reduce erosion rates by a national average equivalent to the amount reduced from 1982 to 2015 over the course of the next 15 years.
*How Soil Erosion Threatens Our Food and Farm Future, Union of Concerned Scientists
Not your problem... guess again
Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture and Food Supply (EPA report)
There are over two million farms in the United States, and more than half the nation’s land is used for agricultural production. The number of farms has been slowly declining since the 1930s, though the average farm size has remained about the same since the early 1970s. Agriculture also extends beyond farms. It includes industries such as food service and food manufacturing.
Top Climate Impacts on Agriculture
Climate change may affect agriculture at both local and regional scales. Key impacts are described in this section.
1. Changes in Agricultural Productivity
Climate change can make conditions better or worse for growing crops in different regions. For example, changes in temperature, rainfall, and frost-free days are leading to longer growing seasons in almost every state. A longer growing season can have both positive and negative impacts for raising food. Some farmers may be able to plant longer-maturing crops or more crop cycles altogether, while others may need to provide more irrigation over a longer, hotter growing season. Air pollution may also damage crops, plants, and forests. For example, when plants absorb large amounts of ground-level ozone, they experience reduced photosynthesis, slower growth, and higher sensitivity to diseases.
Climate change can also increase the threat of wildfires. Wildfires pose major risks to farmlands, grasslands, and rangelands. Temperature and precipitation changes will also very likely expand the occurrence and range of insects, weeds, and diseases. This could lead to a greater need for weed and pest control.
Pollination is vital to more than 100 crops grown in the United States. Warmer temperatures and changing precipitation can affect when plants bloom and when pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, come out. If mismatches occur between when plants flower and when pollinators emerge, pollination could decrease.
2. Impacts to Soil and Water Resources
Oysters and other animals with limited mobility are vulnerable to hypoxia because they can’t move to other areas.Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of heavy precipitation in the United States, which can harm crops by eroding soil and depleting soil nutrients. Heavy rains can also increase agricultural runoff into oceans, lakes, and streams. This runoff can harm water quality.
When coupled with warming water temperatures brought on by climate change, runoff can lead to depleted oxygen levels in water bodies. This is known as hypoxia. Hypoxia can kill fish and shellfish. It can also affect their ability to find food and habitat, which in turn could harm the coastal societies and economies that depend on those ecosystems.
Sea level rise and storms also pose threats to coastal agricultural communities. These threats include erosion, agricultural land losses, and saltwater intrusion, which can contaminate water supplies. Climate change is expected to worsen these threats.
3. Health Challenges to Agricultural Workers and Livestock
Agricultural workers face several climate-related health risks. These include exposures to heat and other extreme weather, more pesticide exposure due to expanded pest presence, disease-carrying pests like mosquitos and ticks, and degraded air quality. Language barriers, lack of health care access, and other factors can compound these risks. Heat and humidity can also affect the health and productivity of animals raised for meat, milk, and eggs.
For more specific examples of climate change impacts in your region, please see the National Climate Assessment.
There are over two million farms in the United States, and more than half the nation’s land is used for agricultural production. The number of farms has been slowly declining since the 1930s, though the average farm size has remained about the same since the early 1970s. Agriculture also extends beyond farms. It includes industries such as food service and food manufacturing.
Top Climate Impacts on Agriculture
Climate change may affect agriculture at both local and regional scales. Key impacts are described in this section.
1. Changes in Agricultural Productivity
Climate change can make conditions better or worse for growing crops in different regions. For example, changes in temperature, rainfall, and frost-free days are leading to longer growing seasons in almost every state. A longer growing season can have both positive and negative impacts for raising food. Some farmers may be able to plant longer-maturing crops or more crop cycles altogether, while others may need to provide more irrigation over a longer, hotter growing season. Air pollution may also damage crops, plants, and forests. For example, when plants absorb large amounts of ground-level ozone, they experience reduced photosynthesis, slower growth, and higher sensitivity to diseases.
Climate change can also increase the threat of wildfires. Wildfires pose major risks to farmlands, grasslands, and rangelands. Temperature and precipitation changes will also very likely expand the occurrence and range of insects, weeds, and diseases. This could lead to a greater need for weed and pest control.
Pollination is vital to more than 100 crops grown in the United States. Warmer temperatures and changing precipitation can affect when plants bloom and when pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, come out. If mismatches occur between when plants flower and when pollinators emerge, pollination could decrease.
2. Impacts to Soil and Water Resources
Oysters and other animals with limited mobility are vulnerable to hypoxia because they can’t move to other areas.Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of heavy precipitation in the United States, which can harm crops by eroding soil and depleting soil nutrients. Heavy rains can also increase agricultural runoff into oceans, lakes, and streams. This runoff can harm water quality.
When coupled with warming water temperatures brought on by climate change, runoff can lead to depleted oxygen levels in water bodies. This is known as hypoxia. Hypoxia can kill fish and shellfish. It can also affect their ability to find food and habitat, which in turn could harm the coastal societies and economies that depend on those ecosystems.
Sea level rise and storms also pose threats to coastal agricultural communities. These threats include erosion, agricultural land losses, and saltwater intrusion, which can contaminate water supplies. Climate change is expected to worsen these threats.
3. Health Challenges to Agricultural Workers and Livestock
Agricultural workers face several climate-related health risks. These include exposures to heat and other extreme weather, more pesticide exposure due to expanded pest presence, disease-carrying pests like mosquitos and ticks, and degraded air quality. Language barriers, lack of health care access, and other factors can compound these risks. Heat and humidity can also affect the health and productivity of animals raised for meat, milk, and eggs.
For more specific examples of climate change impacts in your region, please see the National Climate Assessment.
We Need Solutions
There are many pieces out there. What we need is to bring people together into the puzzle, see the developing picture, and determine a strategy to shift to more sustainable and resilient ways of producing food. Here are some elements we have determined are important in considering potential solutions:
We don't know what we don't know, maybe you do?
There are many pieces out there. What we need is to bring people together into the puzzle, see the developing picture, and determine a strategy to shift to more sustainable and resilient ways of producing food. Here are some elements we have determined are important in considering potential solutions:
- Local production, reducing carbon pollution, and travel associated costs, this might also help in the food dumping and waste issues.
- Re-establishing diversity and creating local seed storage to preserve the future.
- Develop local cooperative management models that provide diverse points of view and greater information on which to base decisions.
- Utilizing passive technology, natural systems and permaculture to create stronger growing ecosystems.
- Reduce (eliminate) chemical dependency and intrusive industrial growing techniques.
- Look to synergistic approaches like the Green Power House to provide primary, secondary growing, and process that benefit to both agriculture and quality of life.
- Make farm to table the standard instead of the exception.
We don't know what we don't know, maybe you do?