There have increasing reports of severe weather conditions throughout the world. Certain areas are facing record-breaking water shortages while others are faced with unprecedented flooding. There are a myriad of circumstances that are leading to these conditions. However, the amount of precipitation an area receives is a dominating factor. Precipitation is part of the atmosphere…
We are all living together here on this big beautiful green and blue rock we like to call Earth. She provides us with so many wonderful things – most importantly the raw materials and environmental services that keep us alive. Despite being so lucky as to have these gifts from nature, we as humans seem…
Agricultural drainage serves two purposes. The first is for the removal of excess surface and subsurface water. The second is to remove excess soluble salts with the (excess) water from the drained soil profile. There are two options for drainage systems. The first is a surface drainage system. A surface drain removes excess water from…
Soil. A living, breathing fundamental component of the world. Without it, we would not be able to grow food. There would be no trees and plants growing to provide us with the delicious oxygen so necessary to our existence. Our water would not be purified. We would more or less just be screwed. Yet, we…
Strong Sustainability: Why Protecting Natural Capital is Non-Negotiable The concept of sustainability is still developing. New information provides new insights and the tools to work towards a future more capable of enduring the tests of time. Until recently, humans operated under the assumption that natural resources could be exploited indefinitely without harming the larger system….
Hydrology is a branch of the scientific and engineering discipline that deals with the occurrence, distribution, movement and properties of water above and below the land surfaces of the earth. It deals with the relations and interactions of water with the environment, including biota. Hydrological studies allow for the planning, design and realization of water…
Human and livestock have lived in ecological harmony for 10,000 years. True! It is only with the emergence of modern industrialized agriculture that livestock production has become ecologically harmful. Livestock competes with humans for food and water Technically speaking, pigs and chickens are in competition with humans because we can consume similar foodstuffs. However, in…
We have all read about them…the insane, previously unseen and completely out of control fires that are ravaging parts of America’s west. The lack of water has taken its toll. Reservoirs are tapped. Rivers are running dry. Famous people are illegally hoarding water. Lakes are at all-time lows. Northern parts of states are at odds…
According to the Barbara Stein, author of Noah’s Garden, a perfect lawn perpetually requires intensive inputs due to the fact that it is completely cut-off from the natural system that would otherwise support it. Additionally, the roots that grow from lawn grass become a “feltlike mat” that is between 2 and 4 inches deep. The…
What exactly is a food desert? The term food desert was first coined in the 1990s in Scotland. It is used to describe locations where there is little or no access to healthy foods. This is often due to a lack of “normal” and “safe” food sources (i.e. supermarkets). When residents do not have regular…