The World in an Apple... §We live in a world which is described as getting smaller and smaller…not literally, but in the perspective of the Global Village. §Here is an apple to illustrate the earth, and the relationship of our habitat to the increasing population...

We begin the process of dividing.. §The three quarters represent the oceans of the world. §The remaining one quarter is sliced in half. §The one eighth represents the land area that is inhospitable to people: the polar areas, deserts, swamps, very high or rocky mountains...

We now have 1/8 left over... §The place that is left is land area where people live, but do not necessarily grow the foods needed for life. §We slice the 1/8 piece into four sections - §The 3/32 set aside represents the areas too rocky, wet, cold, steep, or with poor soil. It also contains the cities, factories, parking lots, etc - where food doesn’t grow...

We carefully peel the 1/32 slice... §This tiny bit represents the very thin surface of the earth’s topsoil, upon which we depend. §It is less than 1.5 m deep and a fixed amount of food producing land. §Due to erosion and over-farming, we lose 25 billion tons per year… §It takes 100 years to form 2.5 cm of topsoil.