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Maine's North Woods Monument a Fitting Celebration of the National Park Service's Legacy  
If you've spent time in the woods in Maine, you know how hard it is to describe the peace and wonder that come with being amidst such natural beauty. Henry David Thoreau probably said it best when he wrote that "the tops of the mountains are the unfinished parts of the globe" and the gateways to the secrets of the gods.

On Wednesday, August 24, 2016, almost a hundred years to the day since the National Park Service was created, this area achieved federal recognition when the Obama Administration declared it a National Monument, paving the way for its intended use: to serve as a national park. A fitting way to celebrate the National Park Service's centennial!

In one hundred years, "America's best idea" has ushered in protections for incredible and vulnerable lands, allowing forests and prairies and bodies of water to thrive, and preserving natural and historic formations and other unique geological features.

In Maine's North Woods, pristine forests that have been preserved for hundreds of years have recently seen dramatic and unpredictable shifts in ownership. Continuing this way would have been risky for the North Woods' future.

With amazing views of Mount Katahdin, rare plant species, seven ponds, many hiking trails, and wildlife like eagles, moose, and Canadian lynx, this region is incredibly valuable and its protection is well deserved.

Further, it's estimated that a national park would bring needed jobs and investment to an area whose economy sorely needs it.

Vision Shift

President Obama's protection of Maine's North Woods honors the legacy of his many predecessors of both political parties who have used the Antiquities Act to protect our natural and historic heritage while creating the recreational and economic opportunities these wonders generate. In the United States, we're incredibly lucky that we can experience everything from climbing mountains to sailing enormous lakes to exploring the Grand Canyon and more. Without leaving our borders, we have access to some of the world's most breathtaking scenery and natural beauty.

In the National Park Service's first 100 years, we have celebrated our most valuable and iconic natural surroundings by investing in their care and protecting them for future generations. This is successful, inspiring, and worthy of praise: these lands and the history saved within them will be handed down to future generations of Americans to visit, enjoy, and revel in. It's no wonder that Presidents tend to establish these monuments and parks while envisioning their legacy.

In the past decade, there has been growing awareness of our most valuable and vulnerable marine resources have not had the same level of attention and preservation measures. Hidden out of sight, it's easy to forget that entire mountains and forests exist under the surface, too, brimming with marine wildlife and supplying much of the oxygen we breathe.

As we move into the next hundred years of National Parks, it's time for a shift in focus toward #blueparks - the next frontier of conservation in America.

President George W. Bush created the first Marine National Monument in the Pacific Ocean in 2006. With no areas afforded the same protections in the Atlantic, President Obama now has a historic opportunity to do the right thing and protect special underwater places from commercial extraction.

As we celebrate the North Woods Monument designation and 100 years of National Parks, we also call upon President Obama to turn his attention to our Atlantic ocean and protect New England's Ocean Treasures.

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Turning tech into a god is seriously bad news  
Artificial super-intelligence may be on the horizon, but as summer festival-goers hear, it's a long way from solving human problems  
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First US offshore wind farm will power an entire island  
The five-turbine farm off Rhode Island's coast is expected to be supplying first homes by the end of the year  
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http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/23/12607986/ussr-soviet-union-design-font-apple-samsung-mercedes-benz  
This is what modern logos would look like if they were from the USSR  

A Russian graphic designer named Mike Levchenko is doing his part to mend the icy relationship between his country and the West — or at least Western capitalism — by reimagining a half-dozen global brands as if they were from the Soviet Union.

Levchenko took the logos of McDonald's, Nikon, Samsung, Dior, Apple, Chanel, and Mercedes-Benz, and gave them a Cyrillic spin. Apple's is boxy, but with an unmistakable leaf growing from the first letter. Dior's is cursive and feminine. Mercedes gets a couple spear points to suggest speed. Levchenko also paired each logo with an advertisement, most of which appear modeled on Soviet era ads from the 1950s and ‘60s.

First designed by monks in Bulgaria in the ninth century (shout-out to The Verge's...

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This could be Mozilla's next logo  

Mozilla, the open web pioneer, is staying true to its collaborative and open roots by performing a brand redesign right out in public. The company has published its shortlist of new logo proposals, which it will now consider, refine, and whittle down to create its next brand identity. Among them is the above, seemingly abstract, structure that actually spells out Mozilla's name in its multicolored isometric shapes.

There's another quirky design that incorporates various colors and shapes to spell out "Mozilla":

And then there are few more staid and predictable variants:

The unifying feature of all of the redesign concepts is that they're carefully thought through. And even where you might say their...

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Photos of the Day: Aug. 24, 2016  

Explore the news of the day with these images from around the world.  
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From Panamanian Gang Members to City Tour Guides  

The proprietors of Fortaleza Tours have a fragile truce within the "red zone" of Panama City. In the eyes of Panamanian law, once you make it to a gang list, there's no way off. But Fortaleza wants to change that. Not long ago, their tour guides may have been the ones to rob foreigners wandering through the area. Now, former gang members give tourists a behind-the-scenes look at their past gangland life, and all financial transactions with the tourists are voluntary. This documentary by MEL Films, Gang Tours of Panama, shows how violence is waning, the hospitality sector is moving in, and a relatively new feeling of safety has returned to the historic center of Panama City.

 
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'Second Earth' exoplanet found right under our noses just four light years away  

Proxima b is a likely target for Starshot project

Rumours that a terrestrial planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the Sun's closest neighbour, may be Earth-like have been confirmed today in a paper published in Nature.…

 
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DSM-5 Made A Mistake Eliminating Substance Abuse  
DSM-5 made a mistake when it joined together into one big, heterogeneous category ('Substance Use Disorder') what in DSM IV had been two quite different diagnoses ('Substance Abuse' and 'Substance Dependence').

In DSM IV, Substance Abuse described someone who gets into recurrent, but intermittent, trouble as a consequence of recreational binges.

In sharp contrast, DSM IV Substance Dependence described a continuous and compulsive pattern of use, often with accompanying tolerance and withdrawal.

The two DSM IV diagnoses have radically different implications for treatment planning and for prognosis. Artificially lumping them together in DSM-5 forces inaccurate diagnosis, loses critical clinical information, and stigmatizes as addicts, people whose substance problem is often temporary and influenced by contextual and developmental factors.

A college kid who binges occasionally on weekends can get into serious trouble and often requires an immediate intervention, but is very different from someone whose life revolves around drugs and who can't get through a day without them. The majority of substance abusers are in a passing phase, never become addicted in any meaningful sense of that word, and require a very different treatment approach than those who really are addicted. And lumping abusers with the addicted creates unfortunate stereotypes that jeopardize future marital and job prospects, legal status, and insurance eligibility.

The DSM-5 workgroup based its rationale for dropping Substance Abuse on studies suggesting that there is no bright line boundary separating Abuse from Dependence. The results of these studies are certainly not definitive and their interpretation was flawed by a basic DSM-5 misunderstanding of the nature of psychiatric diagnosis. All DSM disorders overlap with other DSM disorders and also frequently with normality. Fuzzy boundaries among near neighbors are ubiquitous and inherent to the entire diagnostic system in psychiatry and are not sufficient excuse to collapse distinctions that are clinically valuable. There was no problem that needed fixing or matter of principle at stake. The change was radical, creates obvious harms, and provides no apparent benefit.

What to do? My suggestion to clinicians is simply to ignore the DSM-5 change. It is perfectly appropriate and clinically preferable to continue making the valuable distinction between Substance Dependence and Substance Abuse. In what follows, I will explain why and indicate how appropriate and easy it is to retain Substance Abuse within the rules of the ICD-10- CM coding system.

Substance Abuse vs Substance Dependence vs Normal Use

There are cases that straddle the boundary between Substance Abuse and Substance Dependence, but much more often they are easily distinguished by marked difference in behavior, treatment needs, and prognosis.

In contrast to Substance Dependence, Substance Abuse is defined by its absence of tolerance, withdrawal or compulsive use. The typical substance abuser gets into recurrent but intermittent (often weekend) trouble as a consequence of episodic recreational binges. He goes through periods when he can take or leave the substance, use it in a controlled way, or abstain altogether. Then comes a binge with bad outcome, then another peaceful period, then another binge, and so on. The label Substance Abuse implies an intervention directed to the harmful consequences of the binges, how to avoid them, and the substitution of other less dangerous recreational activities.

The label Substance Dependence alerts the clinician to the importance, but great difficulty, of achieving abstinence and the significant risk it will trigger severe physiological or psychological withdrawal unless done under close medical supervision. Treatment and rehabilitation services will need to be much more intense, continuous, and long-term.

There is also a considerable difference in prognosis between Substance Abuse and Substance Dependence -while some go on from an early history of substance abuse to later dependence, the majority do not and are much more likely to have an early and permanent remission.

The differential diagnosis of Substance Abuse must also distinguish it from normal, recreational substance use. Substance Abuse is a mental disorder- a label that should not be applied casually to everyone who experiences an occasional episode of substance excess. A few binges does not a mental disorder make or else almost all of us would qualify as mentally disordered at some point in our lives. Binging is always ill advised, risky, and unfortunate, but does not indicate mental disorder unless and until it becomes part of a repetitive pattern that causes significant distress, impairment and/or legal consequences. The person doesn't learn from the repeated painful experience that a couple of drinks (or snorts or pills or joints) can lead to a binge and that a binge can, and often does, have serious (and sometimes even catastrophic) consequences.

In DSM IV, the definition of Substance Abuse is "a maladaptive pattern of substance use manifested by significant adverse consequences" in at least one of four different domains of trouble: 1) driving under the influence; 2) other legal problems (e.g., disorderly conduct, assault, etc.); 3) reduced performance at work or school, and; 4) problems with interpersonal relations and family life.

Prognosis and Risks

For some, Substance Abuse is a stably unstable life pattern- but most people either outgrow it or go on to Substance Dependence. The threshold between the two is crossed when the periodic bingeing turns into continuous use and the motivation switches from pleasurable recreation to needing the substance on a regular basis just to get by.

The risks of Substance Abuse must not be missed or minimized. It can be one of the most dangerous disorders in all of psychiatry- sometimes leading to DUI's and car accidents; raping or being raped; shootings; fights; other crimes; getting fired for using on the job; marital discord; neglect of parental responsibility; and/or spending excessively. Substance Abuse is perhaps the strongest indication in psychiatry for early identification and active intervention- both to prevent the risk of later substance dependence and to avoid the catastrophic harms that can arise from any given binge.

How To Code Substance Abuse

It turns out that including Substance Abuse is much truer to the official coding system than dropping it. All of the official diagnostic codes, used in the US and around the world, are provided by the International Classification of Disease (ICD). DSM codes are merely a subset derived from ICD codes. The editors of DSMs simply pick the ICD codes they feel most resemble the categories they have chosen to include in DSM. There is nothing sacred or official about the DSM-5 choices -- I know because I made the choices for DSM-IV. The ICD coding system is official; the DSM codes are just one groups' fallible adaptation of them.
It is of great significance that the official coding in ICD-10-CM does not follow the DSM-5 decision to eliminate Substance Abuse. Instead, ICD-10-CM retains the DSM-IV terminology and continues to provide separate Substance Abuse and Substance Dependence codes for each of the major classes of substances. Thus, the code for Alcohol Abuse is F10.10; Opioid Abuse is F11.10; Cannabis Abuse is F12.10, etc. with the 3rd character in each case indicative of the specific class of substance.

Also telling is the position taken by the ICD-11 workgroup currently revising the labels and codes that will be used in the next version of the international coding system. They have flatly rejected the DSM-5 change and will continue to separate Substance Dependence and Harmful Substance Use- having 
concluded that these two separate categories are needed for both public health and clinical reasons. The DSM-5 mistake thus places it out of line with ICD-10, ICD-11, previous DSM's, and well established clinical practice.

Clinicians remain truer both to clinical reality and to ICD coding when they ignore the new DSM-5 lumping of substance use disorders and instead continue to distinguish Substance Abuse from Substance Dependence. DSM's are explicitly meant to be used only as guides, not worshiped as bibles. Clinicians are free to ignore DSM whenever it makes mistakes that go against clinical common sense and the International coding system.

This article was originally published on Recovery Brands' Pro Talk/Pro Corner

Allen Frances is a professor emeritus at Duke University and was the chairman of the DSM-IV task force.

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Why do we need synchrotrons to study superconductors?  
How synchrotrons help reveal the mystery of high-temperature superconductivity  
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Black-and-white ruffed lemur  

My Planet Experience posted a photo:

The handsome black-and-white ruffed lemur is, along with the red ruffed lemur, the largest member of the Lemuridae family. This species inhabits lowland to mid-altitude rain forests in eastern Madagascar.

Listed as Critically Endangered as the species is suspected to have undergone a population decline of ≥80% over a period of 21 years (three generations), primarily due to observed and inferred continuing decline in area, extent and quality of habitat from slash-and-burn agriculture, logging and mining, in addition to exploitation through unsustainable hunting pressure.
These causes have not ceased, and will to a large extent not be easily reversible.

© www.myplanetexperience.com

 
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New Solar Study in Nevada Sings Same Old I-Done-it-Wrong Song  
Let's address something head on. Solar energy provides a benefit to all consumers, even those who don't have solar panels. Study after study in states from Maine to Arizona, and by groups such as the The Brookings Institution and the Natural Resources Defense Council prove this point. Solar is transforming America's energy use.

Nationally, rooftop solar is growing faster than ever. We reached one million installations nationwide earlier this year, and we're on pace to clear two million in just two more years. That number is expected to hit 4.5 million in the end of 2021, and that's not counting the number of community and utility scale solar projects.

It's not a matter of if solar energy becomes a fixture of every community's electricity generation, it's a matter of when. And the utilities and regulators who fail to recognize this growth, and find ways to give their customers what they want, will be left behind.

In Nevada, however, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) heeded too many false cries about cost shifts and made changes to the rate design structure that effectively brought the state's rooftop solar industry to a screeching halt. In the five months leading up to the PUC's decision, 4,447 applications were filed for residential solar systems. In the five months after, there were just 84.

It doesn't have to be this way. Recent progress in states like New York, Tennessee and Colorado point to a future where solar and utilities find common ground and develop a rate design structure that benefits both of them, in addition to all customers.

Last week, Energy & Environment Economics (E3) put together a draft study claiming that distributed solar generation in Nevada is imposing a $36 million cost on ratepayers. The study comes two years after the same company reached the opposite conclusion, finding that rooftop solar systems create savings for customers. While E3's first study was consistent with other studies in showing solar's value to the community, the latest version insults the intelligence of Nevadan readers.

Good rate design can empower customers to control their energy costs through conservation and adoption of emerging technologies, while sending price signals that allocate capital investment more efficiently, lowering costs for all ratepayers. It's clear when you do the math: the benefits distributed solar generation provide to all far outweigh any costs.

The latest scuffle in Nevada isn't the first time we've seen entrenched interests work to prevent the booming solar industry from thriving in a particular state and giving consumers a choice when it comes to their electric bills, and it won't be the last. So the next time you hear someone claim that rooftop solar puts a burden on everyone else, remember: their numbers just don't add up.

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USAGov's 11 National Parks You Can't Miss in 2016  
Time flies whether you're inside or outside. On August 25, the National Park Service turns 100 and the celebrations are a century in the making. In fact, entrance to all national parks will be free of cost from August 25 to 28.

Make plans to visit one of the more than 400 parks available this year. Find your park and get on the road this year. And if you need help deciding which one to visit, check out some of USAGov's favorite parks as chosen by our own staff:

1-Cumberland Gap National Historical Park-Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia


The "gap" in the mountains allowed settlers to move further west. I feel the strength of the American spirit when I see the waterways and hiking trails that pioneers used to follow their dreams. - Amber

2-San Juan National Historic Site- Puerto Rico



Many things to do in only one park filled with lots of history and beautiful architecture. Growing up in PR my favorite place to go fly a kite was near the "Castillo San Felipe del Morro."- Leilani

3-Shenandoah National Park-Virginia


My favorite. I like seeing the beautiful fall foliage of the Blue Ridge Mountains. -Sandra

4-Death Valley National Park- California, Nevada


It's so unlike any place I've ever been. I felt like I was on another planet. -Jim

5-Yosemite National Park- California


It brings back memories of going camping with my family as a child. I loved the scary stories, good food and an escape from our everyday, fast paced life. -Simchah

6-Grand Canyon National Park- Arizona


It's my favorite national park because of all the breathtaking views. Also, if you're lucky, you'll be graced by the presence of a bald eagle (or two). -Darren

I loved this park because it was another confirmation that this country is as diverse as the people living in it. -Carlos

7-Fort Washington National Park- Maryland


Love seeing the historic fort and grew up going to a lot of picnics and parties there! -Arlene

8-Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park- California


I love the way this urban park shows through exhibits and films at sites around the city of Richmond, CA how Americans worked, lived, and created social change on the World War II home front. Talks led by real life "Rosies" and others who experienced the pressures and opportunities of wartime life in America are fascinating, and very moving. -Nancy

9-C&O Canal National Historical Park- District of Columbia, Maryland, West Virginia


I love this place because it offers great views of the Potomac, hiking and rock climbing a few minutes away from the city. This is a nature's gem in the metropolitan area, so you can go often to be out in the nature. - Cecilia

10-Olympic National Park- Washington


Many wonderful childhood memories and family history with the park and the region; plus, it's the wild Pacific ocean - you can find every shade of grey in the sand, sky, water, driftwood. Beautiful even when it rains... and it rains a lot. -Rachel

11-Acadia National Park- Maine


One of the most beautiful parks you'll ever visit, pictures don't do it justice. Acadia is unforgettable. -Ed

Make this year count and join the celebration! Follow USAGov on Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat or subscribe to our email newsletter for more information about national parks as well as tips and tools in English and in Spanish from hundreds of government agencies, departments, and programs.

Learn more about USAGov, your guide to government programs and services at USA.gov/explore.

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The city of Karlsruhe, Germany was planned with a palace tower...  

The city of Karlsruhe, Germany was planned with a palace tower at its center, surrounded by 32 radiating streets. Because the design resembled the ribs of a folding fan, the city is sometimes called the “fan city” or “Fächerstadt.“ Additionally, this city's urban plan gave rise to the geometry concept of “Karlsruhe Metric” which refers to a measure of distance that assumes travel is only possible along radial streets and along circular avenues around the center.

49°00′33″N 8°24′14″E

Instagram: http://bit.ly/2bngNIT

 
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August sunset, north London  

Francis Mansell posted a photo:

Stitched from 8 shots.

 
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August sunset, north London  

Francis Mansell posted a photo:

Stitched from 4 shots.

 
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An Earthquake in Central Italy Topples Buildings, Killing Dozens (26 photos)  

Central Italy was struck by a powerful, shallow, 6.2-magnitude earthquake at 3:36 am local time, devastating several mountain villages, and resulting in at least 73 deaths so far. Buildings in towns close to the epicenter collapsed on top of each other, falling into the streets, trapping hundreds in enormous piles of rubble. The death toll is still expected to rise as rescue teams reach some of the more remote villages in the region.

 
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Why Are Hybrid Animals Sterile?  
Well, why are *most* hybrid animals sterile? Turns out, female mules can, on a blue moon, actually reproduce. However, it's still all wonky as her baby is somehow also technically her half sibling. Yeah, shit's weird.  
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Time to Follow Teddy Roosevelt's Advice: ‘Drop Politics' and Enjoy a Park  
In 1903 Teddy Roosevelt dropped politics and took a hike. One result was the National Park System.  
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A Century Of Conservation At The National Park Service  
One hundred years ago, an idea was formed to protect America's most beautiful and significant settings from the threatening effects of time, development and misuse. Today, thanks to a century of conservation and preservation efforts undertaken by the National Park Service, national treasures across this country remain unspoiled. Our modern mission must maintain and grow those efforts so that our national parks endure to benefit future generations.

Spanning more than 400 areas in all 50 states -- from Carlsbad Caverns National Park and the recently designated Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico to Lowell National Historical Park and the Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts -- our national park system has lived up to its longtime label of "America's greatest idea."

On August 25, 2016, this idea will have been a reality for 100 years: a dream set in motion by legendary environmental advocates like John Muir, President Teddy Roosevelt, and the first National Park Service Director Stephen Mather.

While the National Park Centennial is a time to celebrate the park system's cherished legacy, it also provides America with an opportunity to recommit to the novel notion that some places are worth keeping just the way they are. It is a concept that was important to Americans a century ago, and that desire has not waned.

In 2015, the national park system welcomed a record-breaking 300 million visitors. The Find Your Park initiative has helped give voice to visitors' experiences through social media and other mediums, all while encouraging others to discover these extraordinary venues. President Obama's Every Kid in a Park program provided 4th graders and their families with free annual passes to national parks, helping spur interest in the newest generation of explorers and conservationists.

A study released in July 2016 by the National Park Foundation found that 95 percent of the American public thinks protecting national parks for future generations is important and 80 percent are willing to pay higher federal taxes to ensure the protection and preservation of the National Park System.

Our national parks and their future well-being are clearly important priorities for American families - and rightfully so. The cultural, natural and historical significance of national parks, monuments, and public lands is indisputable. After each trip, visitors return home with a more intimate connection to nature and our nation.

But national parks also have an important community impact.

The numbers demonstrate that national parks are not just an investment in the preservation of our country's history. They are also an ongoing investment in America's communities. A recent economic study conducted by the National Park Service showed every federal dollar invested in our parks leads to 10 dollars in economic activity, supporting nearby restaurants, hotels, local outfitters, guides, and more. Nationally, the parks generate $27 billion dollars in economic activity and support 250,000 private sector jobs.

To maintain and grow these benefits, Congress has a role to play. The Democratic version of the National Park Service Centennial Act would generate millions in revenue and allocate an appropriate level of funding to the National Park Service so that they have predictable resources in the coming years to address a burgeoning backlog of maintenance and aging infrastructure projects that swelled after years of shrinking budgets.

This month, the National Park Service celebrates its 100th birthday, with celebrations and free entry to stunning vistas atop mountains, on battlefields, in hot springs, and among ancient ruins. The Centennial celebration is a chance for Americans to not only experience these extraordinary pieces of our shared national heritage, but to prove they must be preserved in perpetuity.

Our national parks belong to all Americans, and for more than a century, they have helped tell the story of who we are as a people and as a country. We have a responsibility to protect the places and traditions that define us, so that the story will still be told another hundred years from now.

Niki Tsongas is the U.S. Representative from the Massachusetts Third District and the Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands; U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich represents New Mexico and is the Ranking Member of the Senate Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks.

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The Next Agriculture Revolution Is Under Our Feet  


By Justin Adams, Global Managing Director of Lands at The Nature Conservancy, and Bianca Moebius-Clune, Ph.D., Director at the Soil Health Division, USDA-NRCS

At the core of agriculture is innovation. Advancements in agricultural technology throughout the past century have allowed farmers to feed a population that has grown from less than 2 billion people to more than 7 billion today.

But, as demand for food continues to grow, our lands are stretched to their limits and crop yields struggle to keep up the pace, the world will need farmers to make another leap. By just 2050, global agricultural production must increase by 60 percent, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Some previous agricultural breakthroughs, though, have come with serious environmental costs to both people and nature. With a changing climate exacerbating today's challenges, it is clear the next agriculture revolution will require solutions that not only increase food production, but also sustain the health of our communities, our land and water, and our climate.

The next revolution
One such solution lies with the soil under our feet. About 70 percent of fresh water worldwide is used to produce food, and 95 percent of food is produced on land. Although historically there has been insufficient attention to the value of healthy soils, the data and case examples are clear: healthy soil is critical for long-term agricultural production.

Perhaps Franklin Delano Roosevelt put it best, as the devastating Dust Bowl swept across the U.S. Midwest in the 1930s: "A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself." We have greatly reduced soil erosion in the United States since the time of the Dust Bowl. But we are still losing soil faster than nature can replace it in many places on the planet. According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, every year we lose around 24 billion tons of fertile soil globally (about 2 billion tons/year in the United States, by estimates in the 2012 Natural Resources Inventory), and it takes roughly 2,000 years to generate 10 centimeters (not quite four inches) of topsoil. In order to achieve global long-term food security while better protecting our communities and our environment, we must take soil health more seriously.

The good news is that while it may take hundreds of years to geologically build soil, farmers have demonstrated that they can increase organic matter and improve soil function in just a few years, through soil health management systems. This represents the hope in healthy soil -- the potential of regenerative agriculture.

Recently, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization identified soil organic carbon, soil erosion and soil nutrient imbalance as the top three threats to global soil health. These three elements are intimately related. Increase organic carbon, for example, and the others can improve too.



From nutrient management to carbon storage

Poor nutrient management costs everyone. When farmers pay for improperly planned application or overuse of fertilizers and other soil amendments (and the labor, and fuel to apply them), or when needed nutrients are lost to the environment due to poor soil physical and biological functioning, consumers see higher prices in supermarkets and restaurants.

The environment takes a hit, too: nutrients enter water systems, stimulating algal blooms that contaminate drinking water and suffocate aquatic life. We saw this on the Ohio River in the summer of 2015, and we see it every summer with the Gulf of Mexico's dead zone, which has been averaging an area the size of Connecticut for the past few years -- caused largely by excess soil run-off.

Likewise, better nutrient management coupled with other soil health practices have far-reaching positive impacts. For example, better nutrient balance can reduce emissions of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide -- strengthening the significant opportunity for farmers to be a part of the global climate solution. Adding biochar to soil can increase soil carbon stocks and sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, while also improving the soil's ability to retain nutrients. And strategic crop rotations and nitrogen-fixing cover crops can also improve nutrient balance while limiting erosion and increasing soil carbon sequestration. (Paustian et al., 2016)

Better soil health management can often achieve these environmental benefits at a lower cost than other approaches -- and for farmers there is real profit potential. Improving infiltration and water-holding capacity, for example, can significantly reduce irrigation water needs, lessen dust pollution, and improve nutrient uptake by plants, which can reduce input costs, and reduce plant stress, disease and pest pressure. Over time, these practices can see a material increase in crop yields and quality. Importantly, we must work with the agricultural industry to find the right policies and business models that unlock this sort of economic potential for both the land owners as well as the farmers who are often tenants on the land.

Better soil health starts with collaboration

With farming and ranching occurring in all 50 of the United States and on roughly 40 percent of land around the world, there is global opportunity to continue building on the success of our soil conservation work and to share and learn from new experience. It starts with collaboration.



One example is the long-standing collaboration between The Nature Conservancy and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) team at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). We've worked jointly with influential farmers like Tim Smith, who was recognized for his leadership in sustainable agriculture by being selected as a 2015 Champion for Change. We recently visited Tim in Iowa to learn how he is focusing on soil health and what is working well.

"Soil health is an awareness," Tim told us. "There's more going on than having [particular] chemical properties ... We're also thinking about the biological properties that exist in the soil that really make the soil work."

Being on Tim's farm let us feel the effect of healthier soil. He contrasted "square and bare" fields that had been traditionally tilled with those that had cover crops. We saw how the fields that had cover crops absorbed water more quickly and kept it in the soil longer. Tim emphasized that these fields are producing more food with less water on the same amount of land.

"Conservation is very important to me," Tim said. "It deals with the land, the soil -- something we cannot replace. This farm has been in the family for 135 years. And a lot of times, I ask other farmers, 'Because of the way we farm and the practices we use, what's our soil going to be like in another 125 or 130 years? Are we going to have the same soils that we have now?'"

As part of his efforts, Tim is involved with the Soil Health Partnership, which is a farmer-led project focused on testing and sharing new approaches to improving soil health. Led by the National Corn Growers Association, both the Conservancy and NRCS are active in the partnership.

Cross-sector action
Soil health might not grab the headlines, but it might just be the most important agricultural conservation endeavor of our lifetime. If we want to meet the growing demand for food while strengthening the health of our communities, our land and water, and our climate, we need to support innovation in soil health and ensure farmers have broad access to the practices and incentives that can shift the paradigm. Part of this is working with businesses and other stakeholders to create new service offerings and innovative finance approaches coordinated with this transition.

There is emerging collaboration in the public sector as well, such as the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy's new soil science interagency working group that will receive input from 15 different federal departments and agencies. The working group to be co-led by USDA, USDI and NASA, will contribute to finding innovative ways of protecting America's soil.

This is an opportunity to take responsibility -- together -- for the land that feeds us and our children. We invite farmers, ranchers and consumers alike to join in collaboration in this next agricultural revolution -- a revolution that starts under our feet.

Image credits: 1) Soil sampling a wetland in First State National Park. Photo © Devan King/TNC; 2) Soybeans grow through a dense blanket of diverse cover crop residue in this Nebraska field. Photo © Ron Nichols/USDA-NRCS; 3) Tim Smith. Photo © Joseph Murphy/Iowa Soybean Association.

Explore The Nature Conservancy's latest thinking, science and recommendations on land conservation.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

 
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