Soil and water provide the foundation for food production, ecosystems, and human well-being. Recognizing their invaluable roles, we can proactively safeguard these resources for future generations.
Soil and Soul
The Miracle of Soil and Water
1. Soil is the backbone of our food security. Farmers couldn’t provide us with feed, fiber, food, and fuel without healthy soils.
2. Just like a foundation for a home is critical,
healthy soils act as a foundation for plants by supporting plant roots and
keeping plants upright for growth.
3. Soils act as a pantry for plants, storing and cycling
essential nutrients and minerals that plants need to grow.
4. Soils store water for plants. In fact, according to
the USDA, “every 1% increase in organic matter results in as much as 25,000
gallons of available soil water per acre.” That’s a lot of water!
5. Soils maintain adequate plant aeration, providing
oxygen for microbes, insects, and plant roots.
6. Soils are habitats for beneficial soil microbes; these
organisms are nature’s hidden helpers. They form synergistic relationships with
plants to protect them from stress and provide them with nutrients, among other
tasks. The USDA states, “One teaspoon of healthy soil contains 100
million-to-1 billion individual bacteria alone.”
7. Soils are homes for many other organisms, like insects
that lay and hatch eggs in the soil.
8. Soils filter surface water of dust, chemicals, and
other contaminants. This is why underground water is one of the cleanest
sources of water. In fact, according to Soils.Org, “through natural processes,
such as soil absorption, chemical filtration, and nutrient cycle, the Catskill
Watershed provides New York City with clean water for $1-to1.5
billion, much less than the $6-to-8 billion one-time costs of constructing a
water filtration plant.”
9. Healthy soils help protect the plant from climate change. Columbia University’s Earth Institute says, “Soils remove about 25
percent of the world’s fossil fuel emissions yearly.
10. Healthy soils give farmers better crop yields
and protect plants from stress.
11. Regarding human health, almost all of the
antibiotics we take to help fight infection were obtained by soil microbes.
12. Healthy soils protect the land from erosion.
13. Soil is a nonrenewable natural resource. According to
the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), forming a centimeter of soil can take hundreds to thousands of years. But that single centimeter of soil can
be lost in a year due to erosion.
14. 11% of the total U.S. employment works in the
agricultural and food sectors - that’s 2.16 million full- and part-time people
working on our soils daily.
15. Soil comprises 45% minerals, 25% water, 5%
organic matter and 25% air.
16. Soil acts as a holding facility for solid waste.
17. Soils help regulate the Earth’s temperature.
18. Healthy soils mitigate the impacts of extreme weather
events.
19. Archeologists have determined that many sophisticated
civilizations, such as the Mayans and the Harappans, fell because they mismanaged
their soils.
20. Soils.Org says, “about 70% of the weight of a
textbook or glossy paged magazine is soil.”
21. Putting clay soil on your face as a “mud mask”
cleanses the skin’s pores.
22. the World Future Council states that “soils help
control weeds, plant pests, and disease.”
23. The best china dishes are made from soil.
24. Soil is the foundation of our buildings, roads,
houses, and schools. In fact, soil affects how buildings are made.
25. Soil holds Earth’s history, containing artifacts -
from dinosaurs to ancient human civilizations - from our Earth’s past. There’s
a lot of history stored in soils!
