A World Without Soil: The Past, Present, and Precarious Future of the Earth Beneath Our Feet

by Jo Handelsman, Kayla Cohen (Contributor)

A celebrated biologist’s manifesto addressing a soil loss crisis accelerated by poor conservation practices and climate change
 
“Jo Handelsman is a national treasure, and her clarion call warning of a looming soil-loss catastrophe must be heard. Add her clearly written alarm to other climate change, pandemics, and mass extinctions.”—Laurie Garrett, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of The Coming Newly Emerging Diseases in a World out of Balance
 
“The ground beneath our feet is slipping away as we lose the precious soil that sustains us. Jo Handelsman’s writing—as rich and life supporting as the soil itself—is a riveting warning.”—Alan Alda, actor, writer, and host of the podcast Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda
 
This book by celebrated biologist Jo Handelsman lays bare the complex connections among climate change, soil erosion, food and water security, and drug discovery.
 
Humans depend on soil for 95 percent of global food production, yet let it erode at unsustainable rates. In the United States, China, and India, vast tracts of farmland will be barren of topsoil within this century. The combination of intensifying erosion caused by climate change and the increasing food needs of a growing world population is creating a desperate need for solutions to this crisis.
 
Writing for a nonspecialist audience, Jo Handelsman celebrates the capacities of soil and explores the soil-related challenges of the near future. She begins by telling soil’s origin story, explains how it erodes and the subsequent repercussions worldwide, and offers solutions. She considers lessons learned from indigenous people who have sustainably farmed the same land for thousands of years, practices developed for large-scale agriculture, and proposals using technology and policy initiatives.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Environment, Climate Change, Nature, Ecology, Sustainability

262 pages, Hardcover

First published November 23, 2021

Reviews

[Funilesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is called "a World without Soil" (emphasis on WORLD) and yet the whole first chapter and significant portion of the book was about America. If that isn't the most American thing ever than I don't know what is! (Welp, maybe buying your teenage kids guns for Christmas ought to take the number one spot.) But I digress!

Been hearing about Soil erosion and land degradation since geography lessons of high school so I was just curious to see if the situation is any better today.. Of course it isn't! The author seems to know what she's talking about though, shame that she couldn't get through to Obama. Other countries might've followed America's example in the efforts to counter Soil erosion or it could've brought the issue into limelight. Here's, hoping my country's government and the rest of the world takes heed.

[Jody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book about soil and its connection to human life, as well as it’s importance in the global environment. Contains an impassioned plea for understanding and change to help preserve soil around the world. I wish the challenges put forth were more doable, but I’ve long ago given up on the thought of real change on a global societal scale. I wish I’d be proven wrong.

[Steven Spivak · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a solid piece of knowledge on the crisis of soil degradation, but the solutions to address this issue as a societal issue is laughable (A soil video game? Who would pay for that?)

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is very interesting and informative. It gives a good description of the different types of soil that exist and the "anatomy" of soil. It also explains why we are losing our soil (and how alarming this is), and it lays out what we can all do to reverse this trend and sequester a significant amount of carbon at the same time.

[Erin Ludick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A World Without Soil is an eye opening account that details how erosion occurs, why it is a worldwide problem, and ways we can solve the problem. Jo’s passion for the cause is felt throughout the book, and I commend her for educating the reader and fighting for our planet.

[Allison Payenski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciate the level of depth that this books reaches with topics in plant science and biology. I learned a lot about soil composition and how soil should be used to mitigate climate change.

[db · Rating 5 out of 5]

Important concept and book.

[Andrew Blok]

I learned a lot and feel hopeful/better informed about soil as a climate solution.

[Andrew Naert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soil is a nonrenewable resource in a single human lifetime. It takes many years to build healthy and nutrient-rich soil, that which is being lost to erosion under the current system of management. However, protecting the precious soil, preventing erosion, is very much so attainable in a lifetime. In fact, it could be done much quicker than that if farming practices abandon the current model of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, monoculture, and tillage, and instead engage in sustainable practices such as intercropping, no-till farming, rotational grazing, and cover cropping. Much of the agricultural land in the United States, and the world at large, is severely eroded from many years of farming practices that refused to listen to the land and focused on high, short-term yields instead. I say short term because these practices are truly unsustainable and lead to massive losses in crop production that can only temporarily be propped up using chemical fertilizers. If change is not made famine is coming for the world as well as the effects of climate change. Soil could be a massive force in avoiding the dreaded 2 Celsius increase in global temperature. If these sustainable agricultural practices were implemented it is estimated that one third of greenhouse gas emissions could be offset. Pairing this with more green energy and habitat restoration could seriously be something that future generations look back on as a time the human race narrowly averted man-made extinction.

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 - Strong on problem description but shaky on solutions.

Author does a good job developing personal credibility as a narrative device. Description of top soil loss, and scientific support for the exigency needed, as well written. I also appreciated her effort to recognize, and learn from, indigenous soil management practices.

I was disappointed that issues the linked issues of soil microbes, insects, and other fauna are mentioned are key in the introduction but don’t reappear for sustained discussion.

More importantly, the book holds of on discussion of solutions till the end where her cautious scientific approach unfortunately falls away. When considering things like organic, no-till or regenerative grazing, she is oddly unwilling to accept potential trade-offs like increased land needs.

Organic and no-till are likely necessary and worth the cost in terms of soil carbon but there is a massive literature on their potential costs and benefits. Regenerative grazing, on the other hand, could not, by any stretch of the imagination, sustain global beef demand without enormous land conversion or clearance. We can’t pretend that there won’t be significant medium term costs to saving soil health or that alternative practices always increase yields.

[Ravishankar Nilakantan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soil extinction is a very important topic covered by the book. It goes into the issues caused by modern agriculture practices and how that is killing our soil and what could happen if soil degrades. It has various good examples from history of good agricultural practices used by Indigenous people and a plan for how we need to create an inclusive “Save Our Soil” movement to address this issue.
However i felt the book to be a little dry read. It could have been written in a more story format to be more engaging with the reader. That said this is an important book to be read during an important time in history.

[Nico Van Straalen · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the tradition of Silent Spring and An Inconvenient Truth, Jo Handelsman has made a compelling plea for a Save Our Soil movement. Based upon solid data on soil erosion around the world she makes the case that already in the near future, land degradation will cause significant losses of agricultural production in many places. The argument is well-based and the message well formulated, but what the author has in mind in terms of policy change is quite confused (learning from indigenous peoples, influencing public opinion by entertainment media?). Rather, the solution has to come from evidence-based soil-protective agriculture, enforced by legislation where necessary.

[Maddie Bean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had a lot of great (albeit daunting) knowledge of soil degradation and how nutrients are being depleted in the soil. I enjoyed learning about the history of sustainable agriculture and how we could incorporate some of these practices into industrial agriculture (don’t know if this will ever happen bc our world cares more about making the fastest buck than keeping our planet healthy but maybe one day!)

[Vijay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always imagined soil erosion to be naturally occurring phenomena - and this was the book that demonstrated that soil erosion can also be unnatural - man-made, exasperated by human need for food, economic activity, policy and poor farming practices. Jo Handelsman has done excellent research and presents the problem with solutions. Wonderful book

[Vovka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great intent. A genuine attempt to wake readers up to the soil crisis on our horizon. But wow, was it repetitive, disorganized, and poorly edited. I don’t regret reading it, but do feel disrespected. Should be a 20-page article.

[Baudelairecestpasmoi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's very interesting. I learned quite a bit about soil, the crisis we're facing, and the actions that all of us can take to reverse the trend and solve quite a few environmental problems at the same time.

[Ola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kocham gleby

[Kristie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If this could be 10 stars, it would be. Excellent, excellent and crucially important book for the world.

[Isabelle Vanbenschoten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative but lost my attention as a biogeochemist as time went on. Still learned so much and was well written with a unique perspective

[Rebecca Prosch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for a college English class about science communications, excellent read, excellent resources