Soil is a vital and often underestimated component of our planet. A single gram can contain up to 50,000 species of microorganisms, many of which produce antibiotics.
Earthworms play a crucial role in soil health by aerating it, while fungi and plants engage in a mutually beneficial exchange of nutrients. Soil not only supports food production but also captures carbon, storing three times as much as all plants combined.
However, soil is under threat from intensive farming, urbanization, and erosion, losing soil much faster than it can be regenerated. In Europe, 60-70% of soils are unhealthy, and the UK has lost significant soil carbon since the 1970s.
Soil is essential for water filtration, flood reduction, and atmospheric regulation, yet it remains poorly protected and undervalued. With a slow formation rate, it requires immediate protection and appreciation to safeguard its biodiversity and ecological functions.
Vocabulary:
• Underrated: Not given the value or importance it deserves.
• Microscopic: So small it can only be seen with a microscope.
• Organisms: Living things, such as plants, animals, bacteria, etc.
• Teeming: Full of life or activity.
• Antibiotics: Medicines that kill or stop the growth of bacteria.
• Compounds: Substances formed from two or more elements.
• Interconnected: Linked or related in a way that one affects the other.
• Contamination: The presence of unwanted substances.
• Urbanization: The process of making an area more urban (more like a city).
• Erosion: The gradual destruction of something by natural forces (such as water or wind).
• Regulates: Controls or maintains the rate or speed of a process.
Source: BBC Ideas