An analysis by the University of Sheffield in Britain calculates that “nearly 33% of the world’s adequate or high-quality food-producing land has been lost … due to erosion or pollution in the past 40 years, with potentially disastrous consequences as global demand for food soars,” said the Guardian.
The researchers, who examined papers published over the past decade, said losses would continue unless there are major changes to agricultural practices. “The continual ploughing of fields, combined with heavy use of fertilizers, has degraded soils across the world, the research found, with erosion occurring at a pace of up to 100 times greater than the rate of soil formation.” The research was presented at the UN climate conference in Paris. “The academics behind the University of Sheffield study propose a number of remedies to soil loss, including recycling nutrients from sewage, using biotechnology to wean plants off their dependence upon fertilizers, and rotating crops with livestock areas to relieve pressure on arable land.”