New satellite-based research shows there is at least as much value in knowing how much water is left for plants to use as there is in knowing how much rain may be on the way.
Soil is a non-renewable part of the environment. Can it sustain food production for our growing population?
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The thin layer of soil on our planet's surface ultimately sustains us all, but it's a finite resource. With a growing global population, perhaps it is time to start looking for alternatives.
Snowpack protects tree roots and soil from harmful freeze/thaw cycles.
Rebecca Siegel
Climate change is shrinking winter snow cover in Northeast forests, which protects tree roots and soil from repeated freezing and thawing. This could stunt tree growth and forest carbon storage.
India has developed a pioneering national agroforestry policy.
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Soil scientists have rarely gone the extra mile to translate their knowledge into forms that can be integrated into economic decision making.
Farmer-led development projects in places like Tanzania, shown here, can increase access to food and water, and reconnect people to nature.
(Cecilia Schubert/flickr)
Would you be shocked by a supermarket without carrots, potatoes or broccoli, at any time of year? But harvesting in the off-season does serious damage to our soil.
Soil has many secrets: technology can help reveal its mysteries.
Martin Bridgen
Healthy soil teems with bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microorganisms that help store carbon and fend off plant diseases. To restore soil, scientists are finding ways to foster its microbiome.
Healthy soil from an Oregon farm.
Aaron Roth, NRCS/Flickr
To help feed a growing world population, restore biodiversity and slow climate change, a geologist calls for a moon shot effort to restore healthy soil around the world.
Soils play an important role in the nutritional value of our food.
Researchers are developing biological tools that can boost crop yields to feed a growing world population without harming human health or the environment.