Sustainability
Edward A. Keller defines sustainability as a deliberate effort by people to ensure natural resources are used and protected so that they can serve the community for a long time. This means that this effort should be based on the need to sustain human life and ensure the environment promotes healthy living. Therefore, sustainability is a measure aimed at ensuring natural resources do not get exploited by man’s greed and curiosity. There is a need to ensure that measures are put in place to protect resources from depletion caused by carelessness and greed to satisfy human needs.
Assumptions
There are various beliefs, studies, and practices that make people have different assumptions about sustainability. However, the general assumptions about this topic revolve around how people try to manage the effects of modern technology in sustaining various issues in the environment. Most people assume that the present natural resources (water, trees, and minerals) are capable of replacing themselves regardless of how they are used. This assumption makes them fail to control how they use resources and this leads to their depletion. Secondly, they assume that high consumption leads to environmental degradation and happiness. This is wrong since studies have shown that most wealthy people do not live happily and the reverse is true. Lastly, people believe that economic development is better than environmental conservation, but they forget that these issues are intertwined. Moreover, there is the need to readdress this assumption and ensure that even if people develop sophisticated technologies they should not do this at the expense of the future. These assumptions determine people’s attention and willingness to conserve the environment and ensure they use technologies that sustain resources.
Formation of Alfisols
Soil is a combination of various organic and inorganic substances that are found on the surface of the earth and extend some meters on its crust. Alfisols are the most common types of soil in Indianas because of the humid and semi-arid conditions created by forest covers. They are best suited for growing corn and soya beans because of their acidic conditions and have very high water retention ability that suits the production of these crops. Also, this soil is formed very fast because of the rapid decomposition process fuelled by the semi-arid conditions of this region.
Population Growth Rate and Soil Sustainability
Indianapolis is experiencing a very fast population growth rate that has pushed people to look for land for farming and settlement. However, the need to have houses and own land has increased the demand and the price of this resource. Large farms are being subdivided into small units that are easily affordable. This is a serious threat to food production and environmental sustainability because it will lead to subsistence farming. Besides, there will be high pollution rates and it will be very expensive to produce food. This means that Indianapolis will experience high food prices, pollution, congestion, and informal settlements if it allows its citizens to fragment their lands.
Indianapolis should control land use by ensuring it establishes policies that will promote responsible zoning and planning. There is a need to regulate the price of land to ensure owners are discouraged from selling them; moreover, there should be long procedures before they are allowed to sell their land to discourage this activity.