Let's dish the dirt... (The answer lies in the soil!)

Today is World Soil Day - yes you read that right today we celebrate soil, mud, earth, dirt! But why soil? Well here are a few facts about soil for you.

1 Tablespoon of soil has more organisms in it than there are people on earth (10 billion+)

500 is the number of years it takes to form one inch of topsoil

25 Percent of species have soil as their home

5,000 Different types of bacteria in one gram of soil

.01 Percent of the earth’s water is held in topsoil (that's enough to supply a city like New York for more that 250,000 years)

15 Tons of dry soil per acre that pass through one earthworm each year

1,400,000 Earthworms that can be found in an acre of cropland

20,000 Pounds of total living matter in the top six inches of an acre of soil

10 Percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions are stored in soil, Soils store more carbon than the atmosphere, and all of the world’s plants and forests combined

Soil provides a host of crucial services for both people and the planet. Soil puts food on our plates, purifies our water, protects us against flooding and combats drought. It's also key to tackling climate change as it captures and stores vast amounts of carbon. There is no food security without healthy soils.

Source The Audubon Society / The Soil Association / Client Earth