ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SOILS IN THE ENVIRONMENT . VOLUME 1 TO 4

The Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment is a vitally important scientific publication and an equally
important contribution to global public policy. The Encyclopedia brings together a remarkable range of
cutting-edge scientific knowledge on all aspects of soil science, as well as the links of soils and soil science to
environmental management, food production, biodiversity, climate change, and many other areas of signi-
ficant concern. Even more than that, the Encyclopedia will immediately become an indispensable resource for
policy makers, analysts, and students who are focusing on one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century.
With 6.3 billion people, our planet is already straining to feed the world’s population, and is failing to do so
reliably in many parts of the world. The numbers of chronically poor in the world have been stuck at some 800
million in recent years, despite long-standing international goals and commitments to reduce that number by
several hundred million. Yet the challenge of food production will intensify in coming decades, as the human
population is projected to rise to around 9 billion by mid-century, with the increased population concentrated
in parts of the world already suffering from widespread chronic under-nourishment.
Unless the best science is brought to these problems, the situation is likely to deteriorate sharply. Food production
systems are already under stress, for reasons often related directly to soils management. In Africa, crop yields are
disastrously low and falling in many places due to the rampant depletion of soil nutrients. This situation needs
urgent reversal, through increasing use of agro-forestry techniques (e.g. inter-cropping cereals with leguminous
nitrogen-fixing trees) and increasing the efficient applications of chemical fertilizers. In other impoverished, as well
as rich, parts of the planet, decades of intensive agriculture under irrigation have led to salinization, water-logging,
eutrophication of major water bodies, dangerous declines of biodiversity and other forms of environmental
degradation. These enormous strains are coupled with the continuing pressures of tropical deforestation and the
lack of new promising regions for expanding crop cultivation to meet the needs of growing populations. Finally,
there looms the prospect of anthropogenic climate change. Global warming and associated complex and poorly
understood shifts in precipitation extremes and other climate variables all threaten the world’s natural ecosystems
and food production systems in profound yet still imperfectly understood ways. The risks of gradual or abrupt
climate change are coupled with the risks of drastic perturbations to regional and global food supplies.
The Encyclopedia offers state-of-the-art contributions on each of these challenges, as well as links to entries
on the fundamental biophysical processes that underpin the relevant phenomena. The world-scale and world-
class collaboration that stands behind this unique project signifies its importance for the world community.
It is an honor and privilege for me to introduce this path-breaking endeavor.