Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Soil Erosion in the Philippines


Soil erosion and desertification in the Philippines is greatly impacting the nation. One hundred years ago at least ninety five percent of the country was covered by lush rain forest. Over fifteen years, from 1990 to 2005 the Philippines lost one third of its forest due to relentless logging. Although the desertification rate has dropped from twenty percent in the 1990's to now a small percentage of two. Inhabitants of the Philippines have been around for thousands for years and with hundreds and hundreds of years of destructive agriculture. Farmers plow the valuable soil to plant their cash crops only for it to washed away by the seasonal rain. also farmers planting crops on steep slopes of the mountains just makes the soil runoff problem that much harder to control. The 'slash and burn' methods to clear out trees for farm land also only makes it worse. With no trees the soil is loosened and easier to be washed away. It takes roughly two hundred to a thousand years to form two and half centimeters of topsoil. On average, the Philippines farm lands are loosing two and half centimeters ever sixteen years. That is seventeen times faster than its being replaced.

As for whats being done, people of the Philippines know that there is a soil problem, many trying to cut back old ways and old habits. Unfortunately the poor farmers of the Philippines are desperate, and eager to get money from their crops. It's sad to know that their selfish ways with greatly impact the future generations of the Philippines.


5 comments:

  1. You make a poignant comment: "Unfortunately the poor farmers of the Philippines are desperate, and eager to get money from their crops. It's sad to know that their selfish ways with greatly impact the future generations of the Philippines."

    Is this just a microcosm of agriculture's unregulated effects on the environment worldwide?

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  2. Soil erosion is defined as the wearing away of topsoil. Topsoil is the top layer of soil and is the most fertile because it contains the most organic, nutrient-rich materials. One of the main causes of soil erosion is water erosion, which is the loss of topsoil due to water.

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  3. useful information of erosion control and how can we prevent it.
    nice and unique article keep sharing this type of informative updates
    soil erosion definition

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    ReplyDelete
  5. Soil erosion is the displacement of the upper layer of soil, the agents of soil erosion are the same as the agents of all types of erosion: water, wind, ice, or gravity. Running water is the leading cause of soil erosion because water is abundant and has a lot of power. The wind is also a leading cause of soil erosion because wind can pick up soil and blow it far away.

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