Erosion | Is erosion a new problem?
Is erosion a new problem?
Throughout history, people have been affected by soil erosion due to natural conditions, as well as erosion caused by their own actions. As long ago as 4500 B.C., the Sumerians cleared land to grow food. They irrigated the land by building canals in the fertile valley where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers meet (in present-day Iraq). During the time of the Babylonian culture, which followed the Sumerians in about 1800 B.C., the people continued to dig canals. The rivers became muddy, and deposits of siltMedium-sized soil particles., medium-sized soil particles, settled in the irrigation canals and clogged them. The people had to carry silt out of the canals in baskets to keep the water flowing.
Over time, the people began to neglect the canals. As silt filled the valley, the land could support fewer and fewer people. About 700 years...
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