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Soil contamination, soil pollution, or land pollution as a part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activity, agricultural chemicals or improper disposal of waste .
The use of GMO crop plants engineered for herbicide resistance can also indirectly increase the amount of agricultural pollution associated with herbicide use. For example, the increased use of herbicide in herbicide-resistant corn fields in the mid-western United States is decreasing the amount of milkweeds available for monarch butterfly larvae.
Nutrient pollution, a form of water pollution, refers to contamination by excessive inputs of nutrients. It is a primary cause of eutrophication of surface waters (lakes, rivers and coastal waters ), in which excess nutrients, usually nitrogen or phosphorus , stimulate algal growth. [ 1 ]
Soil can be over-irrigated due to poor distribution uniformity or management wastes water, chemicals, and may lead to water pollution. Over-irrigation can cause deep drainage from rising water tables that can lead to problems of irrigation salinity requiring watertable control by some form of subsurface land drainage.
soil type and structure. For example, sandy soil holds little water while clay soils have high water-retention rates; the amount of water used by the plants/crops; how much nitrate is already present in the soil. [3] The level of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) in the Earth's atmosphere is increasing at a rate of 0.2 to 0.3% annually.
Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defined as any change or disturbance to the environment perceived to be deleterious or undesirable.
Soil erosion (especially from agricultural activity) is considered to be the leading global cause of diffuse water pollution, due to the effects of the excess sediments flowing into the world's waterways. The sediments themselves act as pollutants, as well as being carriers for other pollutants, such as attached pesticide molecules or heavy metals.
Soil regeneration is the reformation of degraded soil through biological, chemical, and or physical processes. [ 2 ] When productivity declined in the low-clay soils of northern Thailand, farmers initially responded by adding organic matter from termite mounds , but this was unsustainable in the long-term.