Identifying human activities that affect the
quantity and quality of the soil
These include land use change, land management, land
degradation, soil sealing, and mining. The intensity of land use
also has a great impact on soils. Soils are also subject to
indirect impacts arising from human activity, such as acid
deposition (for example, sulphur and nitrogen) and heavy
metal pollution.
Deforestation is the purposeful
clearing of forested land. Throughout
history and into modern times, forests
have been razed to make space for
agriculture and animal grazing, and to
obtain wood for fuel, manufacturing,
and construction
Mining is the extraction of valuable
minerals or other geological materials
from the Earth, usually from an ore
body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer
depositpoint
Overharvesting, also called
overexploitation, refers to harvesting
a renewable resource to the point of
diminishing returns.
Pollution is the introduction ofPollution is
the introduction of contaminants into the
natural environment that cause adverse
change. Pollution can take the form of
chemical substances or energy, such as
