The International Year of Soils, 2015 (IYS 2015) was declared by the Sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly on December 20th, 2013 after recognizing December 5th as World Soil Day.

Soil is a finite natural resource. On a human time-scale it is non-renewable. However, despite the essential role that soil plays for human livelihoods, worldwide there is increasing degradation of soil resources.  Recognizing the importance of soils, the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), in 2002, made a resolution proposing the 5^th of December as World Soil Day. This day is aimed to celebrate the importance of soil as a critical component of the natural system and as a vital contributor to the human wellbeing. 

http://criticalzone.org/luquillo/news/story/this-friday-december-5th-is-world-soil-day/

Who is credited for laying the foundation of Soil Science / Pedology.

Vasily Vasil'evich Dokuchaev is commonly regarded as the father of pedology, the study of soils in its natural setting. He developed soil science in Russia, and was, perhaps the first person to make wide geographical investigations of different soil types. His great contribution to science was, figuratively, to "put soils on the map".

Soil Formation

Soil fertility is greatly influenced by the factors of soil formation. As soils form, nutrients are being continually removed from and added to the soil with time. The conditions that are present during soil formation ultimately determine how much and what kind of nutrients the soil can naturally supply and hold.

Soil profiles vary from place to place and the differences in soil make-up cause soils to behave and perform in many different ways. We have mentioned the process of weathering when we discussed soil mineral composition. Now, we will discuss the processes of weathering in terms of soil formation. We will begin by looking at the 5 factors of soil formation that cause great differences in the development of soil profiles.

http://soilweb.landfood.ubc.ca/landscape/soil-formation

The soil is Life

A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.

Franklin D. Roosevelt 

 

What makes soils different from one another?

Soil scientists describe soil as a natural body that forms as the result of five factors: Climate, Organisms (plants, animals, and microorganisms), Relief (shape of the landscape), Parent materials, and Time. This can be explaines as a function as follows.
S = function (Climate, Biota, Slope (Relief), Parent material, Time)
These five factors are referred to as ClORPT, for short (kind of a mnemonics).
To know more about this fact please do read this blog post : What makes soils different from one another?

Is soil renewable or non-renewable resource? Can you explain the answer

Is soil renewable or non-renewable?

I recently got into a conversation with someone who claimed soils are a renewable resource because the nutrients in them can be replaced with fertilizers. But I’ve heard that soil takes a really long time to form, so that to me makes it non-renewable. What’s your opinion?

Read the article appeared in this Blog. You will find the answer.

 

 https://soilsmatter.wordpress.com/2013/10/04/is-soil-renewable-or-non-renewable/is-soil-renewable-or-non-renewable resource?

Study of soil more: Comprehensive introduction to the living element of soil,

Does climate change affect soil? 
Anthropogenic climate change is already occurring and will continue to be a significant threat. Regardless of national and international efforts to mitigate the effects of rapidly increasing greenhouse gas emissions, significant climate change is  highly likely to occur over the next century. Recent projections include at least 2° to 3° of warming by 2050 in many parts of the world, as well as large changes to rainfall distribution and seasonality. There are likely to be significant impacts on all ecological systems as a result of these changes.  Projected climate change has the potential to have severe, but variable, impacts on soils, depending on the bioclimatic zone and the intrinsic vulnerability of the soils in that zone. Changes to land use and management as a result of climatic shifts will also potentially affect soils. To develop a climate change scenario for soils on a regional basis, it is necessary to consider several factors and this article/page highlights some vital information on that subject  
 
 

Soil for schools

Soils for Schools : 
This blog and its content will help you to find basic information and activities to help you learn about one the world's most vital non-renewable resources - soil. After studying all pages you can visit activity page which include some MCQ questions. Try to answer to those questions and that will help you to understand the nature of questions you have to answer at your mid semester and final exam.