You Can't Say You Are Saltier Than Salinization
In this unit of Food For Thought we were discussing death and how food surplus effects it in many ways. In class, we have been talking about issues/conflict that had happened in history that has been caused by the food we also looked at an article about the Irish potato famine. We also defined what monoculture and polyculture are and how they might affect the agricultural world especially when you have a low food supply. For this AP we were assigned to pick a topic that food surplus effects. I chose to do salinization when choosing the topic of our choice we get to look up certain historical events that involve what we chose and we get to the significance of the concern.
You Can't Say You Are Saltier Than Salinization from GCE Lab School on Vimeo.
Script:
You can’t say you are saltier than salinization. Salinization is the process of which salt accumulates in the soil it is a concern for many reasons. The reason why it concerns us is that it affects the growth of crops and plants. Salinization could and is able to occur naturally but can be caused by the conditions of the soil if it does not get the nutrients and sources it needs to grow healthy. When salinization arise the soil becomes crackly, white crust on the surface, no growth of weeds, etc. Salinization is a very important concern because with salinization there won’t be any crops that would be able to grow and with no crops equals no food.
Salinization usually occurs naturally due to irrigation. Currently, the Earth’s soil has a buildup of salt which is causing the soil to have a low production of crops. Many regions have been losing crops and plantations because of salinated soil and of course, the loss of crops leads to the lack of food and stability. Over the last two decades, there are studies of many cases of salinization from Australia, India, Pakistan, Spain, Central Asia, the United States, South West Africa, etc. It’s because of irrigation water contains dissolved salt. Overtime concentration levels where the salt reaches a point where it makes it difficult for plants to take up water from the soil and higher concentrations can become toxic and kill off the plants.
Many countries have experienced salinization and there are many historical events where they have to affect certain places. In the 1970’s Australia went through a hard time of facing salinization and is still currently facing this battle of their salty soil. Australia has gradually lost many farms and grazing land due to the salt level rising. Salt is everywhere in Australia and is caused by the sea salt dropping rain or the wind. Luckily the vegetation in Australia has become salt-tolerant but, while much other vegetation is demanding for water. Many farmers are afraid of their crops and their grazing land and many aquatic ecosystems are suffering. According to the book, Empires Of Food, “ Genetic modification is a tool, just like irrigation, artificial fertilizers, and refrigerants, all of which have made it possible to feed our civilization.” (p. 218) The reason why I chose this quote is that currently many people don’t treat crops and soil correctly they are not giving them the natural materials they need which aren’t helping the issue of salinization.
For this issue, it is very hard to solve this concern when we don’t have much control over it. The occurrence of salinization is still unknown to fix and solve. People are working the best they can to decrease the salt levels of the soil so that crops are able to grow healthy and are able to get the water they need. To reduce the production of salinization farmers are able to monitor the groundwater and stop further loss of deep-rooted native vegetation in high-risk areas. Something that we can learn from history is making sure we are monitoring the groundwater and taking good care of our soil and not taking the soil for granted.
We should be able to fix salinization because it is happening around the world and with salinization, we will not have any food sources and the minerals we need. Ways we are able to stop salinization is treating the soil right and being able to give the soil what it wants. So we should fertilize the soil correctly and be able to give it the nutrients it needs. Another way we are able to stop salivation is to manage water. When managing water we are able to stop the amounts of salt that rain contains which will decrease the salt amount. One last idea is to grow salt-tolerant crops so they are able to grow in those regions or we can go crops near lakes, rivers, etc. so the crops are able to get the accurate water size they need.
Salinization is a major cause in the world currently and effects us greatly. We should be able to stop salinization and protect our soil and food supply. Even though salinization comes naturally we should still try to help the soil. With dried up/salinated soil we will not be able to grow healthy crops and without crops, we will have no food. Food is such an important source that humans have the ability to and when foods become scarce it’s going to be a much harder life. This should concern everyone after five years we will have a food surplus. Slowly slat levels are rising and we need to do everything we can to decrease it. Without salinization, our soil will be much healthier and we will be able to grow much more crops than we have currently. If this continues in the future we will have a low food surplus.
Citations:
Zielinski, Sarah. Earth's Soil Is Getting Too Salty for Crops to Grow. 22 May 2018
Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Salinity - Our Silent Disaster. 22 May 2018
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Salinization. January 1988
Script:
You can’t say you are saltier than salinization. Salinization is the process of which salt accumulates in the soil it is a concern for many reasons. The reason why it concerns us is that it affects the growth of crops and plants. Salinization could and is able to occur naturally but can be caused by the conditions of the soil if it does not get the nutrients and sources it needs to grow healthy. When salinization arise the soil becomes crackly, white crust on the surface, no growth of weeds, etc. Salinization is a very important concern because with salinization there won’t be any crops that would be able to grow and with no crops equals no food.
Salinization usually occurs naturally due to irrigation. Currently, the Earth’s soil has a buildup of salt which is causing the soil to have a low production of crops. Many regions have been losing crops and plantations because of salinated soil and of course, the loss of crops leads to the lack of food and stability. Over the last two decades, there are studies of many cases of salinization from Australia, India, Pakistan, Spain, Central Asia, the United States, South West Africa, etc. It’s because of irrigation water contains dissolved salt. Overtime concentration levels where the salt reaches a point where it makes it difficult for plants to take up water from the soil and higher concentrations can become toxic and kill off the plants.
Many countries have experienced salinization and there are many historical events where they have to affect certain places. In the 1970’s Australia went through a hard time of facing salinization and is still currently facing this battle of their salty soil. Australia has gradually lost many farms and grazing land due to the salt level rising. Salt is everywhere in Australia and is caused by the sea salt dropping rain or the wind. Luckily the vegetation in Australia has become salt-tolerant but, while much other vegetation is demanding for water. Many farmers are afraid of their crops and their grazing land and many aquatic ecosystems are suffering. According to the book, Empires Of Food, “ Genetic modification is a tool, just like irrigation, artificial fertilizers, and refrigerants, all of which have made it possible to feed our civilization.” (p. 218) The reason why I chose this quote is that currently many people don’t treat crops and soil correctly they are not giving them the natural materials they need which aren’t helping the issue of salinization.
For this issue, it is very hard to solve this concern when we don’t have much control over it. The occurrence of salinization is still unknown to fix and solve. People are working the best they can to decrease the salt levels of the soil so that crops are able to grow healthy and are able to get the water they need. To reduce the production of salinization farmers are able to monitor the groundwater and stop further loss of deep-rooted native vegetation in high-risk areas. Something that we can learn from history is making sure we are monitoring the groundwater and taking good care of our soil and not taking the soil for granted.
We should be able to fix salinization because it is happening around the world and with salinization, we will not have any food sources and the minerals we need. Ways we are able to stop salinization is treating the soil right and being able to give the soil what it wants. So we should fertilize the soil correctly and be able to give it the nutrients it needs. Another way we are able to stop salivation is to manage water. When managing water we are able to stop the amounts of salt that rain contains which will decrease the salt amount. One last idea is to grow salt-tolerant crops so they are able to grow in those regions or we can go crops near lakes, rivers, etc. so the crops are able to get the accurate water size they need.
Salinization is a major cause in the world currently and effects us greatly. We should be able to stop salinization and protect our soil and food supply. Even though salinization comes naturally we should still try to help the soil. With dried up/salinated soil we will not be able to grow healthy crops and without crops, we will have no food. Food is such an important source that humans have the ability to and when foods become scarce it’s going to be a much harder life. This should concern everyone after five years we will have a food surplus. Slowly slat levels are rising and we need to do everything we can to decrease it. Without salinization, our soil will be much healthier and we will be able to grow much more crops than we have currently. If this continues in the future we will have a low food surplus.
Citations:
Zielinski, Sarah. Earth's Soil Is Getting Too Salty for Crops to Grow. 22 May 2018
Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Salinity - Our Silent Disaster. 22 May 2018
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Salinization. January 1988
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