Deserts and Water

Soil Erosion 

Why does soil erosion happen?

There are several reasons and each one connects to the next.

The population in most Third World countries grows every year.

So...

        # farmers cut down more and more trees to get extra land for food crops. (Ethiopia, for example, has lost 90% of its forests since 1900.)

And then...

        # they grow as much food as possible.

In the past, farmers were able to grow crops, then leave a field for several years. This gave the soil a chance to recover.

In the past 20 years that hasn't been possible.

Why? Because of the need to grow more and more food.

So...

        # they start to use the same land too often;

        # the soil becomes thin, dry and weak - after a few years, rain and wind erode it;

        # the farmers aren't able to grow as much food as before;

        # people become hungry.

It's the same story almost everywhere in the Third World: more people, fewer trees, greater use of land, thinner soil, erosion, famine.

In other words, erosion costs lives.

It also means that the world’s deserts are growing all the time.

(Source: The Green World - Macmillan Dossier)

A song

Listen to the first part of the song Barren Ground, by Bruce Hornby & The Range, which talks about that problem.

Click if you need help with the lyrics.

Water

We all need clean, fresh water. Without it, we die in three days.

But in many parts of the Third World, clean water is rare.

Instead, people have drink dirty water. Then they become ill and they can't work so they can't afford to buy food.

Like soil erosion, the water problem often ends in death.

Here are the facts:

        # over 2 billion people don't have clean water;

        # 80% of the world's diseases come from dirty water;

        # nearly 30,000 people die every day from diseases like this;

        # 50% of the people in hospitals are there because of "dirty water" diseases.

Everyone in Britain uses an average of 125 litres of water every day.

This is where it goes:

                            # 35% for drinking and cooking;

                            # 32% to the toilet;

                            # 17% for the bath;

                            # 13% for the washing up;

                            #  3% for gardening and washing clothes.

(Source: The Green World - Macmillan Dossier)

A documentary

Here's another extracts of An Inconvenient Truth, which focus on the increasing demand on Earth's resources.

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