7
min read
June 15, 2022

The Planet’s Ecosystem Is At Risk, and Our Soils May Have Answers

Our planet relies on the entire ecosystem to be healthy, for example Earth Worms help create up to 10x the amount of nutrients and water retained in the soil, which can lead to up to 350% greater yield for produce.

Earth Wallet
Earth Wallet

65 million years ago, Earth witnessed its last mass extinction. But since as early as 1995, scientists have independently warned us of the next such event, risking about 75% of all living species. As alarming as the claim is, this is also not sudden. Our planet has been losing 27,000 tropical microbiomes every year due to loss of habitat caused by both natural and artificial activities. 80% of all insect biomass has disappeared, and soil biodiversity is at an all time low right now.

Soil health affects every single ecosystem on our planet. Sediments carried by rivers from degenerated soils into lakes, seas, and oceans leads to increased water pollution levels that affect marine and aquatic ecosystems. Plants that grow on degraded soil have drastically lower nutrient values, and being the bedrock of all food chains, this consequently affects all other terrestrial species on the planet.

However, one of the most crucial yet neglected aspects of soil-based environmental damage is the one caused to soil biodiversity itself. Just a teaspoon of top soil can contain up to 6 billion microorganisms. This ecosystem directly impacts water retention, nutrient and gas cycles, organic matter breakdown, water and carbon capture, and plant nutrition. Additionally, lifeforms that inhabit soils play an important role in maintaining soil and plant health. Earth Worms, for example, create the necessary soil separation for a 10x in the amount of nutrients and water retained in the soil, generating 350% greater yield for produce.

Losing any life form permanently is a loss for every living organism on the planet. Losing earth worms and soil microbes can lead to less water retention, more runoff into the oceans, and increased flooding. This will further deteriorate soil health, aggravating the decline that has already been set in motion. It all starts with protecting our buddies in the Earth who are thanklessly doing the real work to protect our food security.

There is an urgent need to instill the importance of the interconnectedness of all the world’s biodiversity before taking any measures to reverse the damage. We all have a responsibility to contribute towards regenerating our soil’s organic matter, conserve our environment, and protect our planet. Individually, processes such as increasing carbon and nitrogen input to the soil, limiting chemical additions (such as insecticides and herbicides), and crop rotation can go a long way towards this cause.

However, a collective effort not only can turn the currently bleak situation around quicker, it will also have long lasting benefits that all of Earth’s flora and fauna can benefit from. Today, the world’s largest ecological movement is happening to raise awareness for these very issues, and you have the power and responsibility to make a massive change. Together with the Earth Buddies we will help regenerate the Earth by Saving our Soil.

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