Last night at City Club we heard from David Montgomery, a geomorphologist at the University of Washington.
I've never heard of geomorphology, but it was an interesting presentation on … soil erosion.
Really!
Montgomery's main argument breaks down pretty simply:
Farming allows civilization to happen.
But plowing the earth, by default, erodes soil faster than it can naturally come back.
Therefore over time, a civilization's soil becomes unable to keep up with the demands put on it.
And then they fail.
It takes a big leap to go from soil erosion to the collapse of civilization. And in fact, Montgomery really didn't say it so explicitly. He said civilizations fail because of the guys at the gate. But they are weakened over time because they just can't get the food that they need to. Using historical geological records and relating it to history at the time (Mayans, Greeks, Romans, not to mention colonial tobacco farmers) he made a pretty convincing case.
Looking at global use today, Montgomery said that the US is actually on the forefront of most countries for protecting its soil, which I thought was interesting.
It was a surprisingly interesting evening!
On the 16th, Governor Gregoire will be addressing City Club at the Landmark! It'll be a full crowd, so if you're interested, sign up soon. You can register by phone: 253-272-9561. $23 for members and $30 for non-members (lunch included).