Plan B Chapter 2 Summary

Source: http://www.globalgeopark.org/UploadFiles/2012_5_4/Alxa%20_B.jpg

Top soil is an absolute need when it comes to the survivability of our species. However, humanity has unfortunately over stepped its bounds due to over-harvesting, massive cultivation efforts, and desertification due to the removal of certain flora and fauna. Countries that were once dependent on their own crops are now begging to be apart of the WHO food program due to severe soil erosion. Because of these endeavors, we have found ourselves in a dangerous crisis that needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

I read a chapter from Lester Brown's Plan B 4.0 and he describes the erosion crisis: "the thin layer of topsoil that covers the planet's land surface is the foundation of civilization... But sometime within the last century, as human and livestock populations expanded, soil erosion began to exceed new soil formations over large areas" (Brown 32). Regrettably, this is not a new occurrence. "A similar situation exists in Mongolia, where over he last 20 years three fourths of the wheatland has been abandoned and wheat yields have fallen by one fourth, shrinking the harvest by four fifths." (Brown 33).  Brown details many scenarios where the effects of soil erosion are felt in some countries and also around the world. Many countries are foregoing natural preservation of resources by tapping into them way too many times at an alarming rate. Aquifers are now drying up much faster than they were anticipated, and desertification is becoming more rampant, leaving countries completely dependent on importing crucial resources for their people.

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Desertification_map.png

Although they are eye-opening in some cases, it seems as if he is continuously adding more examples when the audience already gets the point of the discussion: The increase of the world's population is now at a level where it can possibly exceed the world's sustainability for that increase, and soil erosion is making it a hell of a lot worse. "China's desertification may be the worst in the world" (Brown 37). "Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is losing 351,000 hectares of rangeland and cropland to desertification." (Brown 36.) I absolutely agree that there needs to be an outcry for these sort of situations, but monotonously dragging the point onward leads to brown's argument somewhat being missed.

Source: http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/environment-book/Images/water-hole-cattle.jpg