the nexus of soil, water and waste
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The Nexus of Soil, Water and Waste. Rattan Lal Carbon Management and Sequestration Center The Ohio State University Columbus, OH 43210 USA. T he E arth. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
THE NEXUS OF SOIL, WATERAND WASTE
Rattan LalCarbon Management and Sequestration CenterThe Ohio State UniversityColumbus, OH 43210 USA
Look again at that blue pearl in the space. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it is everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregates of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant. Every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every aspiring politician, every “super leader”, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there- on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
~Carl Sagan
THE EARTH
-38
18,000 BC6,000 BC 14,000 BC10,000 BC2,000 BCAD 2,000-42-40
-36-34
Warm & Wet
Cold & Dry
δ18
(0%
)
8,000 BCBeginning of Agriculture
1750Anthropocene
EARTH’S HISTORIC TEMPERATURE AND
THE EVOLUTION OF AGRICULTURE(Fagan, 2004)
Time
THE LONG SUMMER
NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION: CENTERS OF ORIGIN OF AGRICULTURE
Region 1000 Yr BPCrops Domesticated
1. Near East/Fertile Crescent 9-14 Eincorn, Emmer, Barley, Pea,
Vetch, Lentil2. Northern China 9 Rice3. Papua New Guinea 6-9
Sugarcane, root crops4. Central Mexico 7-8
Maize, squash, gourds, beans, (Aztecs, Mayans)cocoa5. Indus Valley 7.5-11
Wheat, Barely, Jujuba6. West Africa 4.5
Yam, Cassava7. Horn of Africa 5-7
Teff, Coffee, Cucumber tree, Yeheb nut
8. Eastern North America 4-5Cranberries, Chenopod, Marsh (Cherokees)
Elder, Maple Sugar, Tobacco,
Squash, Sunflower, Knotweed, Little
barely, Maygrass9. Western North America 6 Amaranth,
Pine Nuts(Pueblo Dwellers)
10.South America (Incas) 7Potato, Beans, Coca
LAST ICE AGE AND ORIGIN OF AGRICULTURE
Two factors responsible for origin of agriculture were:(i) Increase in global temperature, and(ii) Increase in atmospheric concentration of CO2 from ~180
ppm to 280 ppm.
Increase in CO2 concentration then enhanced:• Biomass production of C-3 plants (wheat, barley, potato,
sugarbeet) drastically and that of C-4 plants (corn) moderately.
• BNF by legumes
Settled or the intentional agriculture 10-12 millenia ago • was the defining moment in human history
1.01800
1.31850
1.71900 1.8
1910 1.91920
2.11930
2.31940
2.51950
3.01960
3.71970
4.419805.3
1990
6.12000
7.02011
7.52020
8.12030
8.62040
9.22050
102100
I = P x A x T
P = Population A = Affluence T = Technology
THE ANTHROPOGENIC DRIVER
SOIL, WATER, WASTE NEXUS
Soil
NaturalResources
Water Waste
Runoff Percolation
Soil WaterStorage
GreenWater
GreyWater
BlackWater
Waste WaterUse
CompostSludge
Crop/Animal/Tree Residues
THE CENTURY DROUGHT OF 2012
nj.com
Drought decreased production in 2012 by 30-60% in the U.S.
+ 1°C = 10-17% decline in grain yields in the world
Reduction in crop yield in SSA by 8-22%
TYPES OF DROUGHTMeteorological: Long-term deficiency of precipitation
Hydrological: Decline of water in rivers, reservoirs, aquifers, etc.
Pedological: Reduction in soil water storage
Agronomic: Low availability at critical stages of crop growth
Ecological: Low water availability because of land use conversion
Sociological: Demand of a community exceeding supply due to water deficit
ON-SET OF ANTHROPOGENIC EMISSIONS(Ruddiman, 2005)
A trend of increase in atmospheric CO2
concentration began 8000 years ago, and that in CH4 5000 years ago, corresponding with the dawn of settled agriculture with attendant deforestation, soil cultivation, spread of rice paddies and raising cattle.
ANTHROPOGENIC EMISSIONS (Pg) BY CARBON CIVILIZATION
I. Land use(i) Prehistoric :320(ii)1750-2010 :136(iii)2010-2030 :30
II. Fossil Fuel combustion(i) 1750-2010 :200
(ii) 2010-2030 :190
These emissions have and will affect the ecosystems from which we derive food, feed, fiber, fuel and shelter.
II. Oil Consumption• 87.4 m bbl/day• 0.6 gallons/day (3 gallon/day USA)
III. Gas Use• 8.1 b m3/day
THE CARBON CIVILIZATION
Drinking water need = 0.6 gallon/day
Beer consumption in Ohio: 0.1 gallon/day
I. Coal Production (Mt/yr) • 1860: 132 Mt/yr
• 2010: 3731 Mt/yr
DEGRADED LAND (BAI et al., 2008)
Category QuantityDegrading Area 3.5 BhaTerritory 23.54 (%)
GLOBAL SOIL DEGRADATION (109ha)• Water Erosion : 1.09 (Oldeman, 1994)• Wind Erosion : 0.55 (Oldeman, 1994)• Salinization : 0.85 (FAO, 2005)
• Survival and desperation.
• Purposely overuse of resources (subsidies).
• Human greed and corruption, desire to produce and consume in a “world without limit” and expectations: competition, territory and power.
• Ignorance and misunderstanding about functioning of soil ecosystems: unsustainable soil use and management based on lack of knowledge (The Groundnut Scheme of Tanganyka in the 1950s)
CAUSES OF SOIL DEGRADATION
GLOBAL SOIL EROSION & DYNAMICS OF SOIL ORGANIC CARBON
1500 x 1015C
1.1 x 1015 g/yr
5.7 x 1015 g/yr C
3.99 x 1015 g/yr
0.57 x 1015 g/yr
decomposition and emission to the atmosphere
Stored within the terrestrial ecosystem
Displaced due to erosion
Transported to the ocean
In world soil
Desperateness Increase in erosion risks between 1980s and 2090:
Africa….+36%World....+14%
THE GULLIED LAND IN WEST AFRICA
Urbanization and Land
• It takes 40,000 ha to provide accommodation and infrastructure to 1 million people
• Annual increase of 75 million people, takes ~3 Mha of prime land out of production
• By 2015, 236 cities in the world will be ≥ 10 million people
• A city of 10 million requires 6000 tones of food/day
USING TOP SOIL FOR BRICK MAKING IN ASIA TO ACCOMMODATE RAPID
URBANIZATION
• Feeding 7 billion in 2010 takes cropland area size of South America
• Feeding 9.2 billion in 2050 would take the land area of South America & Brazil
+ • Land grabs in 2011 mostly in Africa: 57 Mha (140 million acres)
FUTURE FOOD DEMAND
REQUIRED CEREAL YIELDS AND PRODUCTION TO MEET FUTURE
DEMANDS(WILD, 2003)
Year Yield (Mg/ha) Total Production (106M)200520252050
3.27 3.60 4.30
2240 2780 3255(6.00)
(4.40)(4553)(3629)
(with change to animal-based diet)
DISTRIBUTION OF GLOBAL WATER(REDRAWN FROM SHIKLOMANOV, 1993)
Total WaterSalt
Water97.5%
Fresh Water 2.5%
68.9% Glaciers and permanent snow cover (24,060,000 km3)
29.9% Fresh ground water (10,530,000 km3)
0.3% Fresh lakes and river flows (93,000 km3)
0.9% Other: soil moisture, ground ice/permafrost and swamp water(342,000 km3)
Distribution of Global Fresh & Salt Water
Distribution of Global Fresh Water Only (2.5% Global Water)
Blue
GreenGrey/Black
Virtual
WaterResources
TYPES OF WATER
GLOBAL WATER USE(Kondratyev et al., 2003)
Year Total Agricultural Industrial Urban Agriculture as------------------------109m3/yr------------------------ % of Total
1900 430 350 30 20 81.42000 6000 3400 1900 440 56.7
Increase 14.0 9.7 63.3 22
….. Thenkabail et al. (2010)
TOP TEN NET VIRTUAL WATEREXPORTERS AND IMPORTERS (Km3/yr)
Country Amount Country AmountExporters Importers
64Australia60Canada
53USA
45Argentina45Brazil
33Ivory Coast
28Thailand
25India18Ghana17Ukraine
92Japan
51Italy
47U.K.
35Germany32South Korea
29Mexico
27Hong Kong
15Iran14Spain13Saudi Arabia
WASTE WATER GENERATEDBY SOME WATER DEFICIT COUNTRIES
….. Qadin et al. (2007)
CountryWaste Water
(106m3/yr)
600Algeria10012Egypt3075Iran546Libya650Morocco730Saudi Arabia825Syria2400Turkey881UAE
TUBEWELL IRRIGATION IN PUNJAB, INDIA
Rapid depletion of the ground water in the Indo-Gangetic Plains is partly attributed to subsidies and free electricity.
No one protectsor safeguards an
undervalued resource.
GLOBAL FERTILIZER USE(IFDC, 2004)
YearFertilizer Use (106 Mg)
TotalN P K1950 <10 - - 101960 11.6 10.9 8.7 31.22000 80.9 32.5 21.8 135.22020 135.0 47.6 - -2050 236.0 83.7 - -
• Five countries (Morocco, China, SA, USA and Jordan) control 90% of the P reserves• High P causes anoxia in coastal ecosystems
Is there a peak soil? Are there endangered soils?
HUBERT CURVE
1. Reduce post-harvest losses
: 10-40% (Developing countries)
2. Minimize food waste (farm fork landfill)
: 20-40% (Developed countries)
3. Reduce diversion of food to biofuels
: ~1/3 of corn in U.S.
4. Prefer plant-based diet : 6-8 kg grain/kg of meat on grain-fed livestock
5. Per capita grain consumption
: India= 170 kg/yrUSA = 635 kg/yr Diet
STRATEGIES OF FEEDING 10 BILLION
1. Promote an efficient use of food produced:
2. Adopt climate-resilient sustainable intensification of agriculture
More than one-fourth of all the water we use worldwide is taken to grow over one
billion tons of food that no one eats (Global Water Week, 2012)
WASTED RESOURCES
WASTED FOOD GRAINS DUE TO LACK OF STORAGE FACILITIES
Wasted Morsels
SUSTAINABLE SOIL MANAGEMENT
• Replace what is removed,
• Respond wisely to what is changed, and
• Predict what will happen from anthropogenic and natural perturbations
Country/ Region Crop
Yield (Mg/ha)Present Potential Gap
India Wheat 3 7.5 4.5Rice 5 8.8 3.8
SSA Maize 0.7 4.5 3.8Lobell et al. (2009)
YIELD GAP OF MAJOR CROPS
RESIDUE REMOVAL FOR COMPETING USES
N 36 15 51
NUTRIENTS REMOVED PER MgOF CORN GRAINS AND STOVER (kg/ha)
….. Calculated from Bundy ( 2012 )
Nutrient Grains Stover TOTAL
TOTAL 58.4 71.8 130.2
P 8 2 10K 9 37 46
“Soil biota is the bioengine of the Earth”
There is no such thing as a free biofuel from crop residues.
ECONOMICS OF RESIDUE REMOVAL FOR BIOFUEL
ALCOHOL OR HUMUS
“I am arguing against indiscriminant conversion of biomass and organic wastes to fuels. The humus capital, which is substantial, deserves being maintained because good soils are a national asset”.
……Hans Jenny (1980)
ATMOSPHERIC BROWN CLOUD CAUSED BY TRADITIONAL BIOFUELS
(NYT 4-16-09)
TRADITIONAL BIOFUEL FROM ANIMAL MANURE
More plant nutrients are burnt in dung as household fuel than chemical fertilizers
used/yr in India.
Crop Yield Increase (Kg/Ha/Mg C) Maize 100 - 300Soybeans 20 - 50Wheat 20 - 70Rice 10 - 50Sorghum 80 - 140Millet 30 - 70Beans 30 - 60
30-50 million tons/yr in developing countries
CROP YIELD INCREASE WITH INCREASE IN SOCBY 1 Mg C/Ha
(LAL, 2005)
ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
It involves any activity that reduces the negative impacts of climate change through anticipatory or reactive strategies
take advantage of new and beneficial opportunities that may be presented.
and/or
BT
N, P, K, Zn, H2O
Delivering nutrients of improved and water directly to roots plants
TOWARDS C-NEUTRAL AGRICULTURE
Nano-enhanced Materials
Plants which emit molecular-based
signals
BTBT
No-till Farming
NPP
5 x
10-9 P
g C
/ha
12.5 x 10-12 Pg C/ha/y v
NPP
5 x
10-9 P
g C
/ha/
y
+ 2
ppm
CO
2/y
THE NPP OF A CORN FIELD IS 400 TIMES THE ANNUAL INCREASE IN ATMOSPHERIC C POOL
NBP≅3PgC/yr
Most cost effective option
SOIL AND CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION
Sustainable Soil
Management
1. Causes of Soil
Degradation
• The biophysical process of soil degradation is driven by economic, social and political forces. • Vulnerability to degradation depends on “how” rather than “what” is grown.
1. Causes of Soil
Degradation
2. SoilStewardship
& HumanSuffering
• When people are poverty stricken, desperate and starving, they pass on their sufferings to the land.
Sustainable Soil
Management
1. Causes of Soil
Degradation
2. SoilStewardship
& HumanSuffering 3.
Nutrient,Carbon, &
Water Bank
4.Marginality
Principle
5. Organicvs. Inorganic
Nutrients6. Soil Carbon
& GHG Effect
8. Soil asSink for
Atmospheric CO2 7.
Soilvs.
Germplasm
9. Engine of EconomicDevelopment
10. Traditional Knowledge &
Modern Innovations
• It is not possible to take more out of a soil than what is put in it without degrading its quality. • Only by replacing what is taken can a soil be kept fertile, productive, and responsive to inputs.
Sustainable Soil
Management
1. Causes of Soil
Degradation
2. SoilStewardship
& HumanSuffering 3.
Nutrient,Carbon, &
Water Bank
4.Marginality
Principle
5. Organicvs. Inorganic
Nutrients6. Soil Carbon
& GHG Effect
8. Soil asSink for
Atmospheric CO2 7.
Soilvs.
Germplasm
9. Engine of EconomicDevelopment
10. Traditional Knowledge &
Modern Innovations
• Marginal soils cultivated with marginal inputs produce marginal yields and support marginal living. • Recycling is a good strategy especially when there is something to recycle.
EX NIHILO NIHIL FIT (NOTHING COMES FROM NOTHING)
1. Nothing is appropriated: There are always trade offs (give and take). Law or Concept Implications
2. Nothing is permanent: Everything is in a dynamic equilibrium and a transient state.
3. Nothing is absolute: All processes, properties and values are relative to a baseline.4. Nothing is a panacea: There is no silver bullet, there is a multitude/ menu of options.5. Nothing is universal: Soil/site/region specificity is an important consideration which cannot be overlooked. 6. Nothing tangible is free: Under valuing a commodity leads to “Tragedy of the Commons”.7. Nothing is empty (vacuum) in nature: All space is occupied, pores in solid rock contain water or air and injecting something (liquid CO2), fracking solutions can create shock waves.8. Nothing is given or for granted: It is the judicious use and management which produce goods and services.
9. Nothing is a waste: Everything in nature has a use.10. Nothing is nothing: There is no such thing as nothing.
Restore, Improve, Sustain, and Enhance
Science
Practices Religionand
Culture
Policy
INTEGRATING SCIENCE, PRACTICES AND POLICY FOR SUSTAINABLE SOIL
MANAGEMENT AND RESTORATION
Natural Resources
R. I. S. E.
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IN AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
Judaism : The word “homo” (man) is derived from the Latin word “humus” or the decomposed
organic matter in soil, which is the essence of all terrestrial life. The Hebrew phrase
“Tikkun Olam” means “repairing restoring the world”.
Hinduism : Human body is made of “Kshiti (soil), Jal (water), Pawak (energy), Gagan (sky/space), Sameere (air)” (Prasna Upanishad)
Sikhism : Air is the Guru, water is the Father, and soil is the Great Mother of all. (Gurbani)
Buddhism: “One should not break even the branch of a tree that has given one shelter”(Petavatthu II, 9, 3)
Christianity: The word “Adam” (man) is derived from the Hebrew word “adama” meaning “earth” or “soil”
Greek : The daughter of Earth goddess “Gaea” named Themis (goddess of Law), andher descendent Demeter was the goddess of agriculture and fertility
Romans : The Earth goddess (Tellus) was related to the goddess of fertility and harve(Ceres)
Islam : “He created the man of clay like the potters” (Suhrah Al-Rhman, verse 14)
“We made from water every living thing” (Quŕan 25:54)
“Do not overuse water even if you are on a running river” (Prophet Mohammad)
Khalil : Trees are poems (rubbiat) that earth writes upon the sky. We fell them downGibran and then turned them into paper, so that we may record our emptiness.
1. Wealth without work
GANDHI’S 7 SINS OF HUMANITY
7. Science without humanity
6. Religion without sacrifice
5. Politics without principle
4. Commerce without morality
3. Knowledge without character2. Pleasure without conscience
TRILEMMA OF OF SOIL DEGRADATION (Rates per Minute)
Causes• Population increase: 150 people (births 250, deaths 100)• CO2 carbon increase: 6150 ton• Tropical deforestation: 25 ha• Urban encroachment: 5.5 ha
Effects• Soil degradation: 10 ha• Deaths from hunger: 16 people (incl. 12 children)
Consequences• 540 Mg municipal waste (USA)• Political instability• Civil strife
10. Humanity without conscience
GANDHI’S SINS OF HUMANITY Continued…
8. Technology without wisdom
9. Education without relevance