what's the problem?
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A monoculture of soybeans grows in
Brazil. (Photo courtesy of Friends of the Earth Europe.) |
Several agricultural practices are unsustainable and lead to the loss of biodiversity. The impacts of agriculture on our environment are far too extensive to list all of them here, but we offer just a brief introduction to some of the many problems that are caused by contemporary agricultural methods. Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides pollute our soil and water, while animal farms produce waste that also enter our environment. Monocultures, or large areas of a single crop, are extremely vulnerable to pests and disease. Only fifteen plant species and eight animal species contribute to ninety percent of all human food due to mass production and technology.
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An irrigator waters a wheat field. (Photo credit: Diego Giudice/Bloomberg News.) |
Agriculture is also the sector that uses the most water in the world, accounting for two-thirds of the total global water usage. Irrigation is causing underground aquifers to become depleted because they are unable to recharge at a high rate. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), crops only use 47 percent of irrigated water.
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A crop duster sprays pesticides over crops. (Photo credit: Getty Images.) |
Modern agriculture is heavily dependent on the use of pesticides and fertilizers to increase production. Pesticides not only get into our water supply through runoff, but they also hurt natural pest controls like birds and predatory insects. Pests can actually recuperate faster than these natural predators, creating a greater risk of plagues and infestations. David Pimentel, a Cornell entomologist, and his colleagues stated: "it has been estimated that only 0.1% of applied pesticide reach the target pests, leaving the bulk of the pesticides (99.9%) to impact the environment ."
Industrial farming uses large amounts of fossil fuels for both machinery and transportation, as well as for the manufacturing of synthetic fertililzers. According to the IPCC, agriculture constitutes approximately 20 percent of all human-induced carbon emissions, which are contributing to global climate change.
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The 5,800 square miles of low oxygen water referred to as the 'Dead Zone' is an annual event in the Gulf of Mexico. (Photo credit: NASA/NOAA.) |
Many industrial farms are not required to treat waste from livestock. The waste often runs off into water systems in the surrounding area. Oceans and groundwater are often contaminated from both livestock waste and chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This pollutes drinking water and destroys ecosystems both at the source and up to thousands of miles away. Portions of the northern section of the Gulf of Mexico are considered "dead zones" - areas without any fish - because of the agricultural run-off that empties into the Gulf from the Mississippi River.