Defination of Soil Erosion

Soil is a product of the interaction of living organisms with rocks. Soil has many layers. The
topmost layer is called the topsoil. It is the most fertile. The removal of this topsoil is called soil
erosion.
Effects of Soil Erosion:
These are two major effects of Soil Erosion:Firstly, it losses of soil fertility and makes the land
barren. Secondly it leads to desertification. Desertification refers to increase of desert areas.
Causes of Erosion
The main cause of soil erosion is the removal of vegetation.The removal of vegetation exposes
the topsoil to water and wind. Water and wind cause the topsoil to be removed.

Kinds of Soil Erosion

1- Water Erosion

The removal of topsoil by water is called water erosion. It takes place in the following ways:
Sheet erosion
Rill erosion
Gully erosion
Sheet Erosion
The removal of the entire topsoil as a result of heavy rains is called sheet erosion.
Rill Erosion
Runoff water moves across the soil forming small streams. The topsoil is removed only in these
rills formed by the water streams.
Gully Erosion
Gully erosion is one of the most significant sources of settle to streams and can impact severely
on river health.

Wind Erosion:

The other cause for erosion is wind. It is happened where there is no vegetation covering the
land. The fast moving wind moves the fine particles to other places. The deserts are encroaching
the fertile areas in this manner.

Tillage erosion
Tillage erosion is mostly caused by the way a farmer tills the land. The kind of equipment a
farmer uses. Heavy machinery, frequent tilling, and lack of soil cover during winter months
contributes to soil erosion.
How we can Control of Soil Erosion:
When the land is covered with vegetation, the roots of the plants and trees interlock to bind the
soil particles. It does not allow the soil particles to be carried away by wind or water.
Several methods can be employed to increase the vegetation cover of land. Some of them are as
follows:
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Using a crop in rotation system to cultivate land

To grow trees on lands which have lost their vegetation

To Avoid overgrazing by cattles

To built dams to controal wather flow.

By reducing water runoff helps in soil Erosion

Defination of water cycle/ hydrologic cycle

The amount of water in the earths environment never changes, whether it is as a liquid, as a gas
(water vapour) or in its solid state (snow, ice ). There is also water inside living organisms. The
water continually circulates between the land, the oceans and the atmosphere. It is called the
Water Cycle or Hydrologic Cycle.
Major components of this cycle
There are six major components of this cycle:
evaporation,
condensation,
precipitation,
infiltration,
percolation and runoff
Human impacts on Water Cycle:
The human impact on water cycle can be divided into four categories. These are as followings:

Change the Earths surface:

Changing the water balance in one place can impact on other parts of the water cycle. The
clearing, drawing and construction have complicated effects on the local water balance. The
construction of hard surfaces such as roads, roofs and car parks, reduces groundwater recharge
and increases runoff.
Climate Change:
There is a clear evidance that earth climate is warming due to the rise of green house gases.
Global warming affect our lives and our survival. All human needs fresh water to survive. But
changing rainfall patterns and melting glaciers will cause severe droughts.
Atmospheric Pollution:
As the Population increases, it affects human living standards and industrial growth. It have
greater pressure on the natural environment. Pollution in one place can cause impacts at another .
Air pollution can polutted rain causing acid rain and damaging forests and rivers which has
great affect on water cycle.
Withdrawals for Human use:
We take water out of the system to irrigate crops and for drinking . It carrys out many of our
industrial processes. A larger population will not only use more water but will discharge more
wastewater. Human are the major player in the water cycle.

The Carbon Cycle

Carbon is an important element to living things. As we learned earlier, the most abundant
substance in organisms is water. The second most abundant substance is carbon. Much of the
solid portions of lifeforms is made up of great amounts of carbon.

What is Carbon Cycle:

The carbon cycle is the process by which carbon moves from the atmosphere into the earth and
its organisms and then back again.