Soil sealing

Soil sealing or soil surface sealing is the loss of soil resources due to the covering of land for housing, roads or other construction work. Covering or replacing the topsoil with impervious materials like asphalt and cement as a result of urban development and infrastructure construction paired with compaction of the underlying soil layers results in the mostly irreversible loss of relevant soil ecosystem services. The global rise in population has heightened the need for soil sealing, which in turn leads to the degradation of land. Sealed land is a serious form of land take (use of land specifically for building settlements, roads, and businesses). Soil sealing and land take together leads to the complete loss of soil functions, including its biological, physical and chemical properties.