265
composed of animals, microbes,
plant roots, and minerals, is a
complex and delicate structure that
is slow to form and easily lost. The
World Wildlife Fund estimates that
half of the world’s topsoil has been
eroded by wind and rain in the last
150 years. Particles then collect in
streams and rivers, clogging them
with sediment. Soil loss occurs
due to overgrazing, removal of
hedges, and use of agrochemicals
that affect the soil structure.
Meaures such as resting the soil,
terracing, dams, and strategic
planting can help. In the village of
Aamdanda in Nepal, for example,
steep-sided slopes are stabilized
with broom grass. The plant binds
the soil; it is also a fodder crop
and is used to make brooms,
which the villagers sell.Water pressures
Clean drinking water is a limited
resource. Water covers around 75
percent of Earth’s surface, but
97.5 percent of it is salt water. Of
the remaining 2.5 percent, most isTHE HUMAN FACTOR
innovative ways to minimize
environmental impacts and
manage resources.
Some progress is being made,
in part thanks to campaigning by
people like Naomi Klein. A number
of European and Asian countries,
including the UK, have decided
to phase out fossil-fuel vehicles.
In other areas, however, socio-
economic and political problems
remain obstacles to reform. As “Our
Common Future” stated, meeting
humanity’s goals and aspirations
responsibly “will require the active
support of us all.” ■locked away in glaciers or in deep
underground aquifers. Only one-
hundredth of 1 percent of all the
water in the world is readily
available for human use. Drinking
water is also not distributed
equally, being naturally scarcer in
hot, arid areas of the world than
in temperate zones.
Population pressures and wealth
also have an impact on water
supplies. The UN believes everyone
should have access to at least 88
pints (50 liters) of freshwater a day,
but people in sub-Saharan Africa
manage on 21 pints (10 liters) a day,
while the average American enjoys
almost 740 pints (350 liters).
Around the world, water sources
are also being bought up by large
corporations. Some scientists warn
that, if our current usage patterns
continue and population rates grow
at their current rate, by 2030 global
demand for clean water will exceed
supply by 40 percent.Future plans
New strategies are evidently
required to save the world from
human destruction. Transition
engineering, an emerging multi-
disciplinary field, may help. It
aims to use existing businesses,
organizations, and systems to findThick forests like the one in this
15th-century painting by Italian artist
Paolo Uccello are returning to Europe,
where they have grown by 42 million
acres (17 million ha) since the 1990s.You have to
think in terms of the
survival of human
society ... it is not only
the magnitude of
change, it’s the pace
at which it changes.
Benjamin Horton
British geographerUS_262-265_Depletion_of_Natural_Resources.indd 265 12/11/18 6:25 PM