Compared to the past, rates of soil erosion today are slower more unpredictable faster about the same

The correct answer is - faster.

The rates of erosion in the present are faster than what they have been throughout most of the geologic past. The reason for this increase in the speed of the erosion has primarily been attributed to the human activity. The humans tend to destroy lot of vegetation, be it forests, shrub-lands, or grasslands in order to clear up space for their activities and needs. This leads to much higher exposure of the soil to the process of erosion. The reason for that is that the soil is losing its natural protector form the erosion, the plants and their roots, which are holding the soil tightly and also provide cover for it. Once this natural protection is gone, the soil becomes loos, nothing is holding it, so the natural elements are eroding it very easy and quick.