For more than 10,000 years, humans have interacted with nature for different purposes to develop their main activities (food, housing, leisure). These interactions sometimes cause negative effects on nature, such as the erosion suffered by the soils of the areas that humans have been modifying and adapting to their interests.
From Ecologist Verde, we have proposed to investigate a little in the phenomenon of anthropic erosion, something that is due solely and exclusively to the effects that humans cause on soils in different parts of the world. Keep reading and discover what is anthropic erosion with examples and more related aspects.
What is anthropic erosion
The anthropic erosion, or erosion man-made, Consists of the loss and / or alteration of the surface layer of soils, as a result of different actions that the human being develops on the ground. This erosion phenomenon is also known as artificial erosion, in contrast to what is known as natural erosion, in which natural elements such as water and wind cause the erosion of the land or soil.
This natural process of soil erosion is linked to the evolutionary dynamics of the planet. In it, the combined action of water (water erosion, either due to rain or the action of rivers) and wind (wind erosion) drag and release particles from the soil surface and humus (the upper part of the soil where organic remains decompose, thanks to the action of decomposing organisms and microorganisms: fungi and bacteria).
In this article we will focus only on anthropic erosion, to better understand how we humans erode the soil through different actions that we carry out in our day to day.
Besides, we will tell you more about what is soil erosion, its causes and consequences in this other article by Green Ecologist.
Examples of anthropic erosion and its effects
We can classify in a basic way two main types by which we get to produce anthropic erosion. These are the examples of anthropic erosion by type.
On the one hand, there is the erosion of construction (of cities, roads, industrial infrastructures, etc.). On the other hand, the anthropic erosion of exploitation, through deforestation, different techniques of intensive agriculture, excessive grazing and mines.
These human practices expose the soil to erosion to a greater or lesser extent, having as a triggering factor for said erosion the loss of the natural vegetation cover and of the upper layers of the soils. Let's take a closer look at some examples of these anthropic practices to better understand how such erosion occurs.
Example of anthropic erosion of construction
Regarding the constructions that we carry out more and more frequently and on a larger scale to cover our demographic needs, it will always be useful and positive to carry out studies of impact of environmental risks before starting any construction on soils that still remained without any type of anthropic action. For those who have already suffered the action of man, follow-up studies will avoid possible soil erosion and its consequences.
Learn here what is an environmental risk and examples.
Example of anthropic erosion of exploitation
Focusing now on the anthropic erosion of exploitation, it should be noted that since the beginning of the development of human culture, the main negative impacts of Agricultural revolution they were reflected in soil erosion. The first civilizations grew from small settlements founded in places that offered favorable environmental conditions, such as the fertility of the soil and the availability of water. As the towns learned to modify these environmental conditions, the damage caused increased.
In this way, due to the land overexploitation For crops in different parts of the world, the land became extremely weak, falling off as a result of the rains and thaws, and causing the subsequent uselessness of the land.
In this other post we tell you what is the overexploitation of natural resources, its causes and consequences.
Conclusion on man-made or anthropic erosion
We understand by all this that the soil erosion It is an old, inevitable phenomenon that has increased over the years. Although at the beginning, the impact caused by human actions was hardly appreciable, at present, a civilized human settlement is not conceived without a certain degree of soil erosion.
Therefore, it is important to highlight the idea that anthropic erosion could not be eradicated, but only can be controlled. As we have seen previously, anthropic erosion is completely linked to the cultural and social development of the human being, therefore, taking into account that any action and decision we take in the present we do with a vision of future development, we must always consider that the impacts on nature (in this case, specifically on the ground), are as less negative and harmful as possible.
If you want to read more articles similar to Anthropic erosion: what it is and examples, we recommend that you enter our category of Other environment.
