The following facts come from the preface of Lester Brown’s Plan B 4.0, which was published in 2009. The book is available in print or as a downloadable PDF from The Earth Policy Institute’s website. For previous Five Friday Facts from Plan B 4.0, click here.
- On close to one third of the world’s cropland, topsoil is eroding faster than new soil is being formed by geological processes, slowly reducing the land’s inherent productivity.
- The world’s irrigated area tripled from 1950 to 2000
- Worldwide we drink on average 4 liters (~1 gallon) of water per day, either directly or in coffee, juice, soda, wine, etc. However, it takes 2,000 liters of water to produce the food we consume each day.
- 40 years ago Haiti was largely self-sufficient in grain. Since then it has lost nearly all it’s forests and much of its topsoil, forcing it to import over half of its grain.
- Mongolia – a country three times the size of France, but with a population of only 2.6 million – imports nearly 70 percent of its wheat as a result of soil degradation.
Image source: Metropolitan Museum of Art
