The Dirt on Dirt: 5 Things You Should Know About Soil

It's World Soil Day: why our life depends on it.

We walk on it every day. Get it under our fingernails. Track it into the house. But do we really appreciate the vital role soil plays—not just in the environment, but in human health?

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization is giving soil its due. Friday, December 5, is World Soil Day, and 2015, the FAO has declared, will be the International Year of Soils.

"The minerals, the nutrients that make up our muscles and bones almost entirely come from soil," says Jerry Glover, a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and agroecologist at the U.S. Agency for International Development.

"This is, of course, very critical because we're supposed to be increasing agricultural production to feed and nourish some of the

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