Soil at risk

 The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has a report about soil pollution:

"Soil pollution is invisible to the human eye, but it compromises the quality of the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe and puts human and environmental health at risk." (SOURCE) 

Damian Carrington (2021) of the Guardian expands on this by referring to a December UN report on soil biodiversity: 

"Since the Industrial Revolution, about 135bn tonnes of soil has been lost from farmland and, given that it takes thousands of years for soils to form, urgent protection and restoration of the soils that remain is needed, the scientists said"  (SOURCE)

The risk is that problems of this scale seem beyond the ability of ordinary citizens to help, but they are not. Small things matter, even just protecting the earthworm population can contribute to soil health. It is especially important to be careful about  putting potentially damaging materials from printers or computers or other complex electronics into the recycling, lest poisonous materials from them enter the soil. Germany provides proper places for recycling such materials, though it may take some effort to get things there. Seemingly innocent chemicals used in gardening and farming may also play a damaging role. 

If we all make an effort to preserve God's creation in even small ways, it will help.


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