and burn agriculture because it quickly gives them land to grow food crops on. Poverty is a
big contributing factor to environmental problems like soil erosion in developing countries.
Preventing Soil Erosion
Soil is a renewable, natural resource necessary for growing food. However, it renews itself
slowly: it can take hundreds or thousands of years to replenish lost soil. When we lose
valuable soil, we also lose an important natural resource. Many of the farmers affected by
the Dust Bowl storms of the 1930’s lost their homes because they could no longer grow crops
and earn money to live, once their topsoil had all blown away. While agriculture can cause
erosion, it is also necessary for human life. We have learned many good agricultural practices
that reduce erosion, instead of speeding it up.
Table19.1shows some seps that we can take to prevent erosion. Which of these things can
you do in your own personal life? Can you think of any other steps we can take to slow
down erosion? Notice that many of the things listed here involve ways that we use the land.
Land use always requires humans to make choices.
Table 19.1:Source of Erosion Strategies for Prevention
Agriculture- Leave leaf litter on the ground in the
winter - Grow cover crops, special crops
grown in the winter to cover the soil - Plant tall trees around fields to buffer
the effects of wind - Drive tractors as little as possible
- Use drip irrigation that puts small
amounts of water in the ground fre-
quently - Avoid watering crops with sprinklers
that make big water drops on the
ground - Keep fields as flat as possible to avoid
soil eroding down hill