The invention of agriculture, along with the invention of written language, started us on our long technological climb to where we are today. Sophisticated agricultural practices and extensive irrigation of arid but fertile soils has enabled us to support six billion people on planet Earth. Unfortunately this also has some negative effects.
Irrigation depletes deep groundwater supplies, known as aquifers.
Edwards Aquifer in Texas is an example of one such situation. Irrigation leaches nutrients from the soil, and deposits minerals, leading to alkalinization of the soil. Guess where a lot of our deserts came from. The Fertile Crescent is now desert in Iraq. The fertilizers and pesticides required to get increased yields from hybrid grains end up washing off the land and into the ground water and streams.