User:Eselph95/sandbox

Synthetic pesticides such as 'Malathion', 'Rogor', 'Kelthane' and 'confidor' are the most widespread method of controlling pests in agriculture. Pesticides can leach through the soil and enter the groundwater, as well as linger in food products and result in death in humans. Pesticides can also kill non-target plants, birds, fish and other wildlife. A wide range of agricultural chemicals are used and some become pollutants through use, misuse, or ignorance. The erosion of topsoil, which can contain chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides, can be carried away from farms to other places. Pesticides can be found in streams and ground water. Atrazine is a herbicide used to control weeds that grow among crops. This herbicide can disrupt endocrine production which can cause reproductive problems in mammals, amphibians and fish that have been exposed. Pollutants from agriculture have a huge effect on water quality. Agricultural nonpoint source (NPS) solution impacts lakes, rivers, wetlands, estuaries, and groundwater. Agricultural NPS can be caused by poorly managed animal feeding operations, overgrazing, plowing, fertilizer, and improper, excessive, or badly timed use of Pesticides. Pollutants from farming include sediments, nutrients, pathogens, pesticides, metals, and salts. Animal agriculture can also cause pollutants to enter the environment. Bacteria and pathogens in manure can make their way into streams and groundwater if grazing, storing manure in lagoons and applying manure to fields is not properly managed.

Edit Summary copied from Environmental impact of agriculture

Soil degradation is the decline in soil quality that can be a result of many factors, especially from agriculture. Soils hold the majority of the world's biodiversity, and healthy soils are essential for food production and an adequate water supply. Common attributes of soil degradation can be salting, waterlogging, compaction, pesticide contamination, decline in soil structure quality, loss of fertility, changes in soil acidity, alkalinity, salinity, and erosion. Soil erosion is the wearing away of topsoil by water, wind, or farming activities. Topsoil is very fertile, which makes it valuable to farmers growing crops. Soil degradation also has a huge impact on biological degradation, which affects the microbial community of the soil and can alter nutrient cycling, pest and disease control, and chemical transformation properties of the soil.

Edit Summary copied from Environmental impact of agriculture