The appeal comes in the context of Earth Day, which is commemorated on Monday, to raise awareness about the importance of preserving natural resources. This year, the motto of the commemorations is "Planet versus Plastics".

"Healthy soil has a great capacity to retain water, by capturing atmospheric moisture and rainwater", says Maria José Roxo, a professor in the Geography Department of the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, quoted in a document from 'Save Soil'.

Soil with a good organic matter content is more resilient to droughts, stresses the official, explaining that good soil management is "a good instrument to mitigate climate change".

The researcher in the area of desertification, ecosystem degradation and climate change recalls the record temperatures of the last 10 months in Portugal and the warnings that the planet is already exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming compared to the pre-industrial era.

According to 'Save Soil' - a movement supported by various United Nations structures and which collaborates with governments in establishing soil health policies - healthy agricultural soil can sequester 27% of the greenhouse gas emissions needed to keep global warming below two degrees.

Soil should be treated as a tool to mitigate climate change, allowing access to greater funding, argues the movement, explaining that soils, which emit carbon, can be not only neutral but "carbon sponges" using regenerative practices.

Earth Day is celebrated in over 190 countries and on this day the organisation "Earthday.org" presents the commitment to reduce the use of plastics for the sake of human and planetary health, demanding a 60% reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040.

Kathleen Rogers, from "Earthday.org", in a message for the day, states that the entire world population is ingesting and inhaling plastics, which can be toxic.

In a report that compiles information on plastic, which even speaks of the "plasticene" era, the organisation warns about the problem of microplastics, nanoplastics and their chemical additives, especially for children.

The document states, for example, that plastic production is expected to double by 2040 and that all studies conclude that the situation is alarming, that action is needed and that care should be taken, because the full extent of the health risks is not yet fully known.

There is evidence, the report says, that microplastics accumulate in human organs, including the brain or the human placenta, and that microplastics and their chemicals are associated with higher rates of miscarriage and male infertility.

And there is also evidence, the document adds, that babies ingest 10 times more microplastics than adults, by crawling or putting objects in their mouths.

Other studies indicate that there are more microplastics in the air indoors than outdoors, where babies spend more time, and still others associate microplastics with an increase in childhood cancer and other diseases.

The report states that much more research is needed on microplastics and health, since it is certain that no one consumes them because they want to, but rather because they have become omnipresent in the air, in homes, in water and in food.

More than waste, the real problem with plastic is related to health, with each human being inhaling 120,000 particles and ingesting 52,000 particles of plastic per year.

In 2021, more than 390 million tonnes of plastic were produced and its production already accounts for 3.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Earth Day, promoted by an American senator, was first marked on 22 April 1970. The UN General Assembly formalised the day in 2009.

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