Scientists confirm the obvious: deforestation is bad
The benefits of cutting down tropical forests in order to convert the nutrient-rich soil into farmland are short-lived, say scientists. US researchers studied deforested land in Mexico and discovered soil levels of phosphorus, a vital plant nutrient, fell by 44% after just three growing cycles. In the long-term the land risks becoming so degraded that it becomes uneconomic to farm.
The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
What a surprise finding, though—who’d have thought it?–deforestation is not good news for plants. Of course I’m joking. In a darkly pessimistic kind of way. Is experience no longer acceptable evidence until sanctioned by scientific investigation? Is nothing true in the 21st century until a scientist sticks a needle in it, bungs a sample in a test-tube and heats it up, then writes a report for a periodical?
tags: common sense, deforestation, environment, soil
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