PopEnvironment Linkages  Overview Air and Climate Biodiversity Coasts and Oceans Conflict and Security Crosscutting Issues Demographics Development and Economics Food and Agriculture Freshwater Health Land Use General Information Land Resources Arable Land / Soil Depletion Forests and Deforestation Desertification Natural Resources Other Land Occupations / Policies and Practices Urbanization Migration Policies Regional Examples Bibliography PopEnvironment Home PopPlanet Home		Land Use > Land Resources > Arable Land / Soil Depletion [11] 1 Title Conserving Land: Population and Sustainable Food Production Author Robert Engelman and Pamela LeRoy Abstract This document explores the effects of population upon agricultural capacity in the present context of pest evolution, greater dependence on fossil fuel based technologies, the depletion of water aquifers, resource scarcity, and the possible degradation of soil quality. Supposing a leveling off of available agricultural land, the paper looks at the impact of growing human numbers upon a finite or degrading resource, and its effect upon food security. While acknowledging a less tenable connection between human population and land degradation the document explores the possibilities that human ingenuity, coupled with a restriction in the rate of human increase, can lead to a sustainable increase in human population. The document is replete with illustrative figures, charts and maps, surveying population and agricultural use of the land from the eighteenth century to the present. Type Report Affiliation Population Action International URL: http://www.cnie.org/pop/conserving/landuse.htm Peer Review Independent Review Process 2 Title Food, Land, Population and the U.S. Economy Author David Pimentel and Mario Giampietro Abstract "The following two pages are highlights of the study, "Food, Land, Population, and the U.S. Economy" by Drs. David Pimentel of Cornell University and Mario Giampietro of the Istituto Nazionale della Nutrizione, Rome. This comprehensive assessment of U.S. population growth and its impact on America's agricultural productivity was commissioned by Carrying Capacity Network (CCN), a non-profit organization in Washington, DC which focuses on the interrelated nature of the economy, population growth, and environmental degradation." Type Executive Summary Affiliation Cornell University and Istituto of Nazionale della Nutrizione, Rome URL: http://dieoff.org/page40.htm Peer Review Unknown Peer Review Process 3 Title Forests and Land Cover Author World Resources Institute Abstract Humans have left an impressive mark on the world's lands over the past several centuries. With the dramatic growth in world population, from roughly 1 billion in 1800 to well over 5 billion today, pressures on the land have greatly increased. The need for greater food production has led to a massive increase in cropland. By the early 1990s, almost 40 percent of Earth's land surface had been converted to cropland and permanent pasture. This conversion has occurred largely at the expense of forests and grassland. Type Report Affiliation World Resources Institute URL: http://www.wri.org/wri/wr-96-97/lc_txt1.html Peer Review Unknown Peer Review Process 4 Title GEO-1: Executive Summary: OverView of Regional Status and Trends Author Global Environment Outlook Abstract Discusses environmental issues that most concern/affect various regions of the world, eg., land availability and degradation in Africa, West Asia, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, while the North is more concerned with forests and biodiversity. Concerns about water use, availability and quality are shared world-wide. "Every day, 25,000 people die as a result of poor water quality and water-borne diseases." Provides general overview and introduction to the report as a whole which is also on-line. The latter discusses regional responses and future outlook. Type Report Affiliation UNEP URL: http://www.grida.no/prog/global/geo1/exsum/ex3.htm Peer Review Unknown Peer Review Process 5 Title Land and Water Conservation Fund: Current Funding Author Abstract Nontechnical review of issue prepared for the U.S. Congress to assist in public policy development. Type CRS Report Affiliation Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress URL: http://www.cnie.org/nle/nrgen-1.html Peer Review Internal Review Process 6 Title Policy Changes Needed to Meet Threats to Land and Water Author 2020 VISION News & Views, July 1995 Abstract Soil and water are the basic natural resources on which agriculture depends, and both are expected to come under serious pressure as the world population rises toward a projected total of 8 billion over the next 25 years. As the demand for water mounts, competition for water among agricultural, industrial, and residential purposes will increase within countries, and tensions between countries that share water basins could escalate into open conflict." Type Article Affiliation International Food Policy Research Institute URL: http://www.cgiar.org/ifpri/2020/newslet/nv_0795/nv_0795e.htm Peer Review Unknown Review Process 7 Title Population Change-Natural Resources-Environment Linkages in Central and South Asia Author Alain Marcoux Abstract The total population of the area (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives) is about 1,420 million. These 15 countries are extremely heterogeneous from the demographic standpoint. Half of them are under 20 million inhabitants in size, while another is close to 1,000 million. The average population growth rate is moderately high (2.1%), but individual rates vary from 0.5% to almost 6%. The region is largely rural (71% on average) but five countries have more than 40% urban population. Rates of growth of the urban population are moderate on the whole but excede 7% in two cases. These diverse conditions imply that countries face very different situations with regard to the distribution of population among sources of livelihood, level and trend of population pressure on natural and investment resources, etc. Type Report Affiliation Women and Population Division of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) URL: http://www.fao.org/sd/wpdirect/wpan0011.htm Peer Review Unknown Peer Review Process 8 Title Soil Map of Brazil Author Norman B. Bliss Abstract Explanation of how to download data and utilize it. Type Database Affiliation EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, U.S.A. URL: http://grid2.cr.usgs.gov/data/brsoil11d.html Peer Review Unknown Review Process 9 Title Study Finds Worldwide Soil Erosion Costly Author 2020 VISION News & Views, February 1995 Abstract The most comprehensive study to date on the costs of soil erosion, David Pimentel and his colleagues at Cornell University report in a recent issue of Science magazine that soil erosion causes up to US$400 billion in damage worldwide. According to the study, "In many parts of the world, where irrigation is not possible or fertilizers are too costly, the price of erosion is paid in reduced food production." Type Article Affiliation International Food Policy Research Institute URL: http://www.cgiar.org/ifpri/2020/newslet/nv_0295/nv_0295d.htm Peer Review Unknown Review Process 10 Title Sweet Water and Bitter Author Roar Bjonnes Abstract A UN report claims that water not oil, will be the next causeover which nations will go to war. The report (which is never cited in the article) that about 1 billion people currently lack access to clean drinking water. Cites this as the reason for mass migrations from Burkina Faso in Africa, widespread deforestation in that country, and poorly maintained wells and other water sources. "Hostility and conflict between countries over water resources is most likely in those areas in which a river is shared by at least two countries... examples of such hot spots include the Ganges, the Nile, the Jordan, the Tigris-Euphrates and Amu Dar'ya and Syr Dar'ya." (According to UN sources this catalogger consulted, The UN report referred to was probably issued shortly before or after the "Habitat II" UNCHS conference in Istanbul, June 1996.) Type Online Journal Affiliation URL: http://www.gn.apc.org/resurgence/articles/bjonnes.htm Peer Review Unknown Peer Review Process 11 Title World Resources 1996-97 Author World Resources Institute, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme, and the World Bank Abstract This volume devotes special attention to the urban environment, a major focus of Habitat II the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements scheduled for June 1996 in Istanbul, Turkey. Urban environmental conditions are important to the health and quality of life of a city's inhabitants and can impose significant costs on economic and social development. The impact of urban areas on the surrounding environment is also an issue of growing concern. More than half of humankind will live in urban areas by the end of the century, and 60 percent by 2020. In most nations, cities generate a majority of the economic activity, ultimately consume most of the natural resources, and produce most of the pollution and waste. Thus, urban environmental issues, although often overlooked, are important both locally and on national and global scales. Neglect of these issues could compromise larger economic, social, and environmental goals in both developed and developing countries. Type Report Affiliation URL: http://www.wri.org/wr-96-97/96tocful.html Peer Review Unknown Peer Review Process