Study finds lands used for grazing can worsen or help climate change
When it comes to global climate change, livestock grazing can be either a blessing or a curse, according to a new study, which offers clues on how to tell the difference.
When it comes to global climate change, livestock grazing can be either a blessing or a curse, according to a new study, which offers clues on how to tell the difference.
Earth Sciences
Mar 15, 2024
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For many hundreds of millions of years, the average temperature at the surface of the Earth has varied by not much more than 20° Celsius, facilitating life on our planet. To maintain such stable temperatures, Earth must ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 7, 2024
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231
Earthquake effects are often thought of in terms of the human impact, be that fatalities or destruction to homes and infrastructure. However, the environmental toll can also be damaging, and new research, published in Nature ...
Two new miniature NASA satellites will start crisscrossing Earth's atmosphere in a few months, detecting heat lost to space. Their observations from the planet's most bone-chilling regions will help predict how our ice, seas, ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 12, 2024
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In a new study, an international team of academics have identified the most important questions that must be answered in order to advance the conservation and restoration of seagrass meadows in Europe.
Ecology
Feb 9, 2024
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Toxic dust storms, anti-government protests, the fall of the Soviet Union—for generations, none of it has deterred Nafisa Bayniyazova and her family from making a living growing melons, pumpkins and tomatoes on farms around ...
Environment
Feb 8, 2024
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As temperature records tumble, and the threat of bushfires and dry conditions looms large, an international study by Flinders University and Argentinian researchers renews the urgency of calls to make more concerted efforts ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 6, 2024
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Kyushu University researchers have found that Japanese beech (Fagus crenata) in the forests of southern Kyushu have seen reduced growth, due to soil erosion caused by the overpopulation of sika deer (Cervus nippon). Their ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 25, 2024
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New research from Michigan State University shows how evaluating historical crop yields across distinct areas of agricultural fields can provide farmers with essential information on soil health characteristics and carbon ...
Ecology
Jan 25, 2024
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Deglaciation during the Holocene (last ~17,000 years) has had significant impacts on the surrounding mountainous environments as glaciers retreated and left distinct landforms in their wake, such as debris ridges (moraines) ...
For morphological image processing operations, see Erosion (morphology) For use of in dermatopathology, see Erosion (dermatopathology)
Erosion is the removal of solids (sediment, soil, rock and other particles) in the natural environment. It usually occurs due to transport by wind, water, or ice; by down-slope creep of soil and other material under the force of gravity; or by living organisms, such as burrowing animals, in the case of bioerosion.
Erosion is distinguished from weathering, which is the process of chemical or physical breakdown of the minerals in the rocks, although the two processes may occur concurrently.
Erosion is a noticeable intrinsic natural process but in many places it is increased by human land use. Poor land use practices include deforestation, overgrazing, unmanaged construction activity and road-building. Land that is used for the production of agricultural crops generally experiences a significant greater rate of erosion than that of land under natural vegetation. This is particularly true if tillage is used, which reduces vegetation cover on the surface of the soil and disturbs both soil structure and plant roots that would otherwise hold the soil in place. However, improved land use practices can limit erosion, using techniques such as terrace-building, conservation tillage practices, and tree planting.
A certain amount of erosion is natural and, in fact, healthy for the ecosystem. For example, gravels continuously move downstream in watercourses. Excessive erosion, however, does cause problems, such as receiving water sedimentation, ecosystem damage and outright loss of soil.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA