The loss of soil creates a number of problems:
Flooding:
When soil is exposed to the elements it evaporates a large percentage of the water off its surface. Since water cannot effectively be absorbed it will run off. The recent flooding in Boulder County is an example of this.
Putting more CO2 into the atmosphere;
Soil is mostly composed of carbon, when it disappears where does it go? Some is washed away and much of it is returned to the atmosphere in the form of CO2.
Changing the environment to one that is not so beautiful;
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder of course. But many of us value the grassland ecosystem and all that it includes which is a vast population of plants and animals above and below the soil as well as biological diversity and vibrancy.
Disrupting an ecosystem causing extinction and die off;
Desertification creates a large void in the ecosystem. Plant and animal populations are largely reduced as are insects and organisms under the soil.
Loss of FOOD SECURITY;
Land that could once be used by ranchers and farmers to sustainably grow food is lost to desertification. This is also a loss of economic opportunity.
