6 ms·

I just talked to someone who is pretty knowledgeable about issues regarding: Global warming Too few trees reuptaking water Top soil being depleted He said t

I just talked to someone who is pretty knowledgeable about issues regarding: Global warming Too few trees reuptaking water Top soil being depleted He said that top soil being depleted is arguably the worst problem of the three. So I simply looked up the first recent article about it and submitted it. I have never heard of this issue and I suspect many of you haven’t either. Disclaimer: the person I talked to has a startup that replants trees in very innovative ways (by using robotics and by employing techniques so that plants can uptake water way deeper from the ground than normally). I am not affiliated with him, I simply met him at a dinner party.

thatcat 7y ago
Hey thanks for posting this, can you link that persons startup as well? It sounds interesting.
- mettamage 7y ago
  One starup he has is called the Land Life Company, I made a submission out of it since I think it's really cool [1]. The other one is called Sensoterra [2]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20421771 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20421771 -- "Our mission is to reforest the world's 2 billion hectares of degraded land" (apologies if you just want the link immediately) [2] https://www.sensoterra.com/ https://www.sensoterra.com/ -- "Wireless soil moisture sensors: make better irrigation decisions for increased yield, with smart soil moisture measurements"
imtringued 7y ago
This isn't really new. Top soil in cut down rain forests barely lasts two years of harvest.
KnightOfWords 7y ago
I'm certainly no expert, but topsoil depletion scares more than any other environmental problem - it can take a few centuries to replace an inch. Even in the absence of climate change we'd be heading for trouble but increasing temperatures are only going to increase the rate of depletion.
- collyw 7y ago
  I am no expert either, but you can make compost pretty easily in far less time. Its good for growing plants. Could composting on a large scale be a solution?
  - thatcat 7y ago
    No, compost is just organic material. Good top soil has <10%-20% organics by volume. Also, since the organics in compost will break down over time, they will need to be re-applied. Sand and clay are needed for structure and minerals.

thatcat 7y ago

Hey thanks for posting this, can you link that persons startup as well? It sounds interesting.

mettamage 7y ago
One starup he has is called the Land Life Company, I made a submission out of it since I think it's really cool [1]. The other one is called Sensoterra [2]. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20421771 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20421771 -- "Our mission is to reforest the world's 2 billion hectares of degraded land" (apologies if you just want the link immediately) [2] https://www.sensoterra.com/ https://www.sensoterra.com/ -- "Wireless soil moisture sensors: make better irrigation decisions for increased yield, with smart soil moisture measurements"

imtringued 7y ago

This isn't really new. Top soil in cut down rain forests barely lasts two years of harvest.

KnightOfWords 7y ago

I'm certainly no expert, but topsoil depletion scares more than any other environmental problem - it can take a few centuries to replace an inch. Even in the absence of climate change we'd be heading for trouble but increasing temperatures are only going to increase the rate of depletion.

collyw 7y ago
I am no expert either, but you can make compost pretty easily in far less time. Its good for growing plants. Could composting on a large scale be a solution?
- thatcat 7y ago
  No, compost is just organic material. Good top soil has <10%-20% organics by volume. Also, since the organics in compost will break down over time, they will need to be re-applied. Sand and clay are needed for structure and minerals.