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About a third of the world's soil has already been degraded, Maria-Helena Semedo of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) told a forum marking World Soil Day.
The causes of soil destruction include chemical-heavy farming techniques, deforestation which increases erosion, and global warming.
As a freshmen in college, a physics prof warned us that there was only about 40 years of oil reserves left. That was 39 years ago. My dad was a bridge design engineer with the state DOT. I went home and asked him, gee Dad, what are we going to do with all the roads and bridges when there is no oil. He shrugged.
As a freshmen in college, a physics prof warned us that there was only about 40 years of oil reserves left. That was 39 years ago. My dad was a bridge design engineer with the state DOT. I went home and asked him, gee Dad, what are we going to do with all the roads and bridges when there is no oil. He shrugged.
*Sigh*
Since you actually went to college, you should be able to think beyond this flawed reasoning that commoners tend to follow.
Here's a scenario to better explain what I mean.
Suppose a group of engineers and scientists, after a study, concludes that the incoming storm could cause mass floodings in the area. How would the community combat this? Well, they build a levy. The storm comes, and the levy keeps back the water, thus diverting a flood.
At this point, it is almost always true that the commoners of the population would start questioning the need for the levy in the first place. They would argue that there ain't no flooding, so the prediction must have been false and it was a waste of money to build the levy.
Try to think about that.
Decades ago, the technology at the time only allowed us to extract oil from certain places. And indeed, most of those places are depleted of oil. Why do you think we have to drill 5 miles deep in the middle of the ocean for oil these days?
Now, the same logic applies. Geologists at the time figured out that there was only so much oil from places that was only accessible at the time. So, engineers heeded the warning and developed technology to go deeper and deeper for more oil.
Regarding this report of soil degradation, it is good that they've done studies on this. Rather than be all conservative and just dismiss this warning, engineers like myself can now develop technologies and techniques that will divert a disaster. And no doubt, after the disaster has been diverted in the future, commoners will start questioning why all that money had been poured into the research in the first place.
That's what commoners do. Thank goodness bridges and buildings aren't designed and built by commoners. Thank goodness science and technology are not developed by short-sighted conservatives. We'd still be riding horses if it were up to short-sighted conservatives.
Since you actually went to college, you should be able to think beyond this flawed reasoning that commoners tend to follow.
Here's a scenario to better explain what I mean.
Suppose a group of engineers and scientists, after a study, concludes that the incoming storm could cause mass floodings in the area. How would the community combat this? Well, they build a levy. The storm comes, and the levy keeps back the water, thus diverting a flood.
At this point, it is almost always true that the commoners of the population would start questioning the need for the levy in the first place. They would argue that there ain't no flooding, so the prediction must have been false and it was a waste of money to build the levy.
Try to think about that.
Decades ago, the technology at the time only allowed us to extract oil from certain places. And indeed, most of those places are depleted of oil. Why do you think we have to drill 5 miles deep in the middle of the ocean for oil these days?
Now, the same logic applies. Geologists at the time figured out that there was only so much oil from places that was only accessible at the time. So, engineers heeded the warning and developed technology to go deeper and deeper for more oil.
Regarding this report of soil degradation, it is good that they've done studies on this. Rather than be all conservative and just dismiss this warning, engineers like myself can now develop technologies and techniques that will divert a disaster. And no doubt, after the disaster has been diverted in the future, commoners will start questioning why all that money had been poured into the research in the first place.
That's what commoners do. Thank goodness bridges and buildings aren't designed and built by commoners. Thank goodness science and technology are not developed by short-sighted conservatives. We'd still be riding horses if it were up to short-sighted conservatives.
Link/quote to the commoner who said " there ain't no flooding."
globally, grain production as well as yields (in bushels per acre) have been on an upward linear trend for at least 50 years, primarily due to improvements in varieties (e.g. with greater drought tolerance) and growing practices:
Dang, global warming is really really hitting the US Corn Belt.... Actually there hasn't been an increase in summer (crop producing period) temps.....
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