Soil Erosion
Kenneth R. Sagum May 7, 2013
FR1 NATSCI1 “Effects of Soil Erosion in the Philippines”
The soil is among our most precious resources, yet we often take it for granted or destroy it by making it susceptible to soil erosion. In the Philippines, for example, 22 provinces had been reported to have "alarming" soil erosion rate. Among those that had been losing their topsoil were Cebu, Batangas, Marinduque, Ilocos Sur, and La Union. This means that 58 per cent of the country's total land area of 30 million hectares is susceptible to erosion. But what is really the meaning of Soil Erosion?
Erosion is the process by which soil and rock are removed from the Earth's surface by exogenetic processes such as wind or water flow, and then transported and deposited in other locations.
While erosion is a natural process, human activities have increased by 10-40 times the rate at which erosion is occurring globally. Water and wind erosion are now the two primary causes of land degradation; combined, they are responsible for 84% of degraded acreage, making excessive erosion one of the most significant global environmental problems.
Industrial agriculture, deforestation, roads, anthropogenic climate change and urban sprawl are amongst the most significant human activities in regard to their effect on stimulating erosion. However, there are many available alternative land use practices that can curtail or limit erosion, such as terrace-building, no-till agriculture, and re-vegetation of denuded soils.
As we all know, Philippines is one of the most well-known country concerning about soil erosion because of illegal cutting of trees and improper disposal of garbage. With this causes, soil erosion is imminent and its effects are Excessive erosion causes problems such as desertification, decreases in agricultural productivity due to land degradation, sedimentation of waterways, and ecological collapse due to loss of the nutrient rich upper soil layers.
Due
FR1 NATSCI1 “Effects of Soil Erosion in the Philippines”
The soil is among our most precious resources, yet we often take it for granted or destroy it by making it susceptible to soil erosion. In the Philippines, for example, 22 provinces had been reported to have "alarming" soil erosion rate. Among those that had been losing their topsoil were Cebu, Batangas, Marinduque, Ilocos Sur, and La Union. This means that 58 per cent of the country's total land area of 30 million hectares is susceptible to erosion. But what is really the meaning of Soil Erosion?
Erosion is the process by which soil and rock are removed from the Earth's surface by exogenetic processes such as wind or water flow, and then transported and deposited in other locations.
While erosion is a natural process, human activities have increased by 10-40 times the rate at which erosion is occurring globally. Water and wind erosion are now the two primary causes of land degradation; combined, they are responsible for 84% of degraded acreage, making excessive erosion one of the most significant global environmental problems.
Industrial agriculture, deforestation, roads, anthropogenic climate change and urban sprawl are amongst the most significant human activities in regard to their effect on stimulating erosion. However, there are many available alternative land use practices that can curtail or limit erosion, such as terrace-building, no-till agriculture, and re-vegetation of denuded soils.
As we all know, Philippines is one of the most well-known country concerning about soil erosion because of illegal cutting of trees and improper disposal of garbage. With this causes, soil erosion is imminent and its effects are Excessive erosion causes problems such as desertification, decreases in agricultural productivity due to land degradation, sedimentation of waterways, and ecological collapse due to loss of the nutrient rich upper soil layers.
Due