In One Part of Europe, Soil Is Rapidly Degrading. It's a Warning to Us All

In the Mediterranean region, land is turning to desert faster than anywhere else in the European Union, according to a new analysis.

Climate change and unsustainable land practices have left a finite resource to a critical point.

Up to 70 percent of soils in the EU are losing the capacity to provide important ecological functions according to a recent publication by a European commission.

The shallow soils of the Mediterranean are vulnerable to a lot of things. The lowest levels of soil organic matter and the highest erosion rates in the EU can be found in this region.

The dense population in this region has led to the spread of heavy metals and pesticides on the ground.

When the soil is healthy, it stores water. 95 percent of the food humans eat is grown by it. The basic life-giving processes of the soil are degraded when it is degraded.

The diet and economy of the Mediterranean are proving harder and harder to support.

There has been very little research done on the potential contributors of soil decline.

Many studies focused on soil degradation by erosion, but only a few considered the effects of biological degradation.

The integrity of the soil is supported by the actions of ants and earthworms. Is the ground-dwelling communities different with human influence? How is that affecting their environment?

We don't have the answers and we are running out of time to find them.

Farmers have been forced to abandon their land due to the increasing desertification in the Mediterranean since the 1950s.

The authors write that changes to agricultural systems are leading to critical levels of habitat loss.

This is a particular concern since the Mediterranean region has a lot of endemic species.

There is no specific EU legislation that protects rural soils from being urbanized, according to a study that was the first to review and summarize the state of soil in the European Mediterranean. salinization is not addressed in specific EU policies despite the review finding it a significant threat to the soil.

There is a general lack of regular systematic assessments of Mediterranean soils and of a formal authority to gather and synthesise available information.

The EU needs to stop treating its ground like dirt.

The study was published in a journal.