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Soil erosion is the main factor for soil degradation and is due to several mechanisms: water erosion, wind erosion, chemical degradation and physical degradation. Erosion can be influenced by human activity. For example, roads which increase impermeable surfaces lead to streaming and ground loss.
The definition of erosion is grinding and wearing away of rock surfaces through the mechanical action of other rock or sand particles. According to the IPCC, sea level rise caused by climate change will increase coastal erosion worldwide, significantly changing the coasts and low-lying coastal areas. [5]
Thus, if rainfall amounts and intensities increase in many parts of the world as expected, erosion will also increase, unless amelioration measures are taken. Soil erosion rates are expected to change in response to changes in climate for a variety of reasons. The most direct is the change in the erosive power of rainfall.
Although the terms erosion and denudation are used interchangeably, erosion is the transport of soil and rocks from one location to another, [1] and denudation is the sum of processes, including erosion, that result in the lowering of Earth's surface. [2]
The five components of the climate system all interact. They are the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the lithosphere and the biosphere. [1]: 1451 Earth's climate system is a complex system with five interacting components: the atmosphere (air), the hydrosphere (water), the cryosphere (ice and permafrost), the lithosphere (earth's upper rocky layer) and the biosphere (living things).
[9]: 2 [10]: 1 [11] Intensive agriculture, deforestation, roads, anthropogenic climate change and urban sprawl are amongst the most significant human activities in regard to their effect on stimulating erosion. [12] However, there are many prevention and remediation practices that can curtail or limit erosion of vulnerable soils.
Political and economic action is further required to solve the erosion problem. A simple governance hurdle concerns how we value the land and this can be changed by cultural adaptation. [2] Soil carbon is a carbon sink, playing a role in climate change mitigation. [3]
[1] Climate change is already now altering biomes, adversely affecting terrestrial and marine ecosystems. [2] [3] Climate change represents long-term changes in temperature and average weather patterns. [4] [5] This leads to a substantial increase in both the frequency and the intensity of extreme weather events. [6]