![]() This is actually seen using satellites which monitor the CO2 levels. ![]() We started ploughing/tilling because it was easier for us to upscale.īut tilling is incredibly intrusive to the soil structures, destroying the balance of microbial life which create organic matter and help the plants get the nutrients to grow. Modern agriculture was not designed for the betterment of the soil, instead for the short term maximisation of yield. To achieve this, we have to change the way that we do agriculture, with less synthetic chemicals and GMO’s and use the most powerful carbon capture process ever invented – photosynthesis. Many countries signed, including the UK, but not the US, China or India, the biggest agricultural and CO2 producers. Which would net off the existing emissions we make, at least stabilising things. The French Minister for agriculture proposed a 4 in 1000 plan, to increase the organic content of our soils by 0.4% per year. It’s predicted that, if we can scale up some of these farming methods over the next 30 years, we can REVERSE global warming. It’s not just about more trees, the carbon that can be stored in healthy, organic material rich soils is much greater. This is bio sequestration – using plants to capture and store carbon. These carbon rich sugars are used by microorganisms in the soil and (in return for providing minerals and other soil nutrients to the plant roots) secrete a carbon rich glue to hold effectively build their mini environments under the surface. This carbon is then absorbed by plants, which use it in their cells and leak into the soils in the form of sugars. The natural carbon cycle involves carbon release by animals consuming plant and other organic materials and releasing the carbon as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Clearly this is something that needs our urgent attention and resolution!Įverything in natural systems is a cycle and aimed at maintaining balance. Unless we save our soils, we have 60 harvests left before global starvation. The rest of our topsoils are projected to be lost within 60 years. Hotter soils during the day create hot rising air, which pushes any of these clouds away, and is how deserts are formed and grow. The other 60% are the large sea-driven cycles. Local water cycles produce 40% of our rainfall. With no plants to transpire and create the water vapour which condenses to rain, local rainfall also fails, turning the area to desert. This dirt then cannot store water, and heats up massively under the sun with no protection, baking the soils and exacerbating the problem. After the country decided to increase yields and started intensively farming and tilling the fertile midwestern plains, leaving the soil bare for large periods of time.Ī soil without organic matter becomes dirt, a mix of rock materials and cannot support life. Cited as the worst man made environmental disaster in history, by the end of 1934 about 200 million acres of croplands had been permanently damaged. By 2014 there was no vegetation left across an area the size of Belgium! The farmers are now starving or have moved on as the soils won’t grow anything anymore, they have become dirt. The Lhos plateau in China is where settled agriculture first began. Since chemical agriculture ramped up in the 70’s, we have lost 1/3 of the world’s topsoil. The world’s top soils grow over 95% of the foods that feed the world. Skip on down to the final thoughts if you don’t have time to get more into the facts! Topsoils are disappearing and the land is desertifying Personally, I think it’s a must watch for people to truly understand the situation we are in with the soils, why it’s important to save our soils, and how we can help.įor a climate change documentary it’s actually vey upbeat, because this is the way we can not only slow, but reverse global warming, sucking CO2 out of the air to stabilise our climate again. There is a large focus on America, but the issues here in the UK (and the rest of the world) are similar, so it is applicable to all. I enjoyed Woody Harrelson as a narrator he felt genuine. It also doesn’t spend most of its time talking about who’s to blame, and it’s actually mostly about looking for solutions for our futures, and did include suggestions about what we, as ordinary people, can do. Personally, I thought this was one of the better Netflix documentaries, mainly because, whilst there’s a lot of negatives about where the world is heading, the overall message is one of hope. For people who have an hour and a half to watch something like this… ![]() 7 About the author Kiss the Ground a review.
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