Study Explores Soil Erosion, Offers Ideas To Slow Soil Loss
If soil continues to erode at current rates, U.S. farmers could lose a half-inch of topsoil by 2035—more than eight times the amount of topsoil lost during the Dust Bowl – and nearly three inches of topsoil by 2100, according to a study released by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Given that it takes a century or more for an inch of soil to form naturally, the United States will lose the equivalent of at least 300 years’ worth of soil by 2100 if today’s trends prevail.