How To (Literally) Save Earth

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Farming erodes soil 50 times faster than it forms. We can change that, but will we?

Credits (and Twitter handles):
Script Writer: Alex Reich (@alexhreich)
Script Editor: Rachel Becker (@RA_Becks)
Video Illustrator: Ever Salazar (@eversalazar)
Video Director: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida)
Video Narrator: Kate Yoshida (@KateYoshida)
With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Omkar Bhagat, Emily Elert, Peter Reich, David Goldenberg
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder

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If you liked this week’s video, we think you might also like these things:
America is running out of soil: http://goo.gl/FXEzeR
Global Soil Partnership: http://goo.gl/lqGknM
Prairie STRIPS research: https://goo.gl/1uw1Yg

FYI: We try to leave jargon out of our videos, but if you want to learn more about this topic, here are some handy keywords to get your googling started:

Agricultural Soil Erosion: the wearing away of a field's topsoil by the natural physical forces of water and wind or through forces associated with farming activities, such as tillage. http://goo.gl/d0Ciwk

Conservation tillage/agriculture: a soil cultivation method in which fields are not ploughed & the previous year's crop residues are left on fields before and after planting the next crop, to reduce soil erosion and runoff. http://goo.gl/8aoizx, http://goo.gl/jmj8Ic

Soil: the upper layer of earth, in which plants grow; a dark, damp, gas-filled structure of minerals and organic matter formed by degrading rocks and decomposing organisms. http://goo.gl/Q6JOrH
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References:

A Landowner’s Guide to Prairie Conservation Strips. Accessed May 5, 2016. https://goo.gl/fN65MA

Antón, S. C., & Steadman, D. W. (2003). Mortuary patterns in burial caves on Mangaia, Cook Islands. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 13(3), 132-146. http://goo.gl/SIiMxy

FAO and ITPS. (2015). Status of the World’s Soil Resources (SWSR) – Main Report. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, Rome, Italy. http://goo.gl/fxPJi0

Kirch, P. V. (1997). Microcosmic histories: Island perspectives on" global" change. American Anthropologist, 99(1), 30-42.

Montgomery, D. R. (2007). Soil erosion and agricultural sustainability. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(33), 13268-13272. http://goo.gl/Si9E6g

Pimentel, D. (2006). Soil erosion: a food and environmental threat. Environment, development and sustainability, 8(1), 119-137. http://goo.gl/64FSCa

Soil Building Systems. Pickup Truck Capacities. Accessed May 5, 2016. http://goo.gl/u7sPfQ

Steadman, D. W., Antón, S. C., & Kirch, P. V. (2000). Ana Manuku: a prehistoric ritualistic site on Mangaia, Cook Islands. Antiquity, 74(286), 873-883. http://goo.gl/ZySytn