Contents
- 1 Carbon Sequestration in Soils
- 2 Agriculture as Carbon Cap and Storage
- 3 Local Food Systems and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- 4 Industrial Agriculture’s Huge Carbon Footprint
- 5 Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fertilizer and Pesticide Use
- 6 Land Use Changes and Agriculture
- 7 Overview
- 8 Other indirect impacts from changed conditions
- 9 Direct impacts from changing weather patterns
- 10 Direct impacts from increased atmospheric CO2 levels
- 11 Climate driven changes in pests, plant diseases and weeds (indirect impacts)
- 12 Global aggregate estimates for crop yields
- 13 Impacts on forests and forestry
- 14 Adaptation
Carbon Sequestration in Soils
Agriculture as Carbon Cap and Storage
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Scaling up from soil to the entire industry, the agricultural sector could be “broadly carbon neutral” by 2030, effectively negating the agricultural industry’s humongous carbon footprint. Translation: We would avoid emitting a whopping 2 gigatonnes — that’s 2 billion metric tonnes — of carbon dioxide. Given that, practicing sustainable agriculture, along with reducing deforestation, is far m…
Local Food Systems and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
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Combined with the two big green steps mentioned above, local food systems can help reduce agriculture’s impact on global warming even further. The example that resident sustainability engineer Pablo used for calculation — cherries grown close enough to be transported by truck rather than airplane — won’t apply to everything, but the lesson is clear: Employing organic agricu…
Industrial Agriculture’s Huge Carbon Footprint
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On the other side of the equation, industrial agriculture — the practice currently employed by the majority of the developed world — has a hugely negative impact on global warming. The U.S. food system contributes nearly 20 percent of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions; on a global scale, figures from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Cha…
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fertilizer and Pesticide Use
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But wait, there’s more! If we consider some of the embodied energy required for industrial ag, it gets worse. According to Will Allen, green farmer extraordinaire, including all the “manufacture and use of pesticides and fertilizers, fuel and oil for tractors, equipment, trucking and shipping, electricity for lighting, cooling, and heating, and emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous o…
Land Use Changes and Agriculture
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It’s not just the actual farming (if you can call it that) that makes industrial agriculture so detrimental. In almost every case, land use changes — say, deforestation, or paving over green space for suburban expansion — result in more surface warming. One exception: When deforestation occurs to create more agricultural land. That’s right, deforestation results in surfac…
Overview
The effects of climate change on agriculture can result in lower crop yields and nutritional quality due to for example drought, heat waves and flooding as well as increases in pests and plant diseases. The effects are unevenly distributed across the world and are caused by changes in temperature, precipitation and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels due to global climate change. In 2019, millions already suffer from food insecuritydue to climate change and predicted decline in global crop pr…
Other indirect impacts from changed conditions
It is difficult to project the impact of climate change on utilization (protecting food against spoilage, being healthy enough to absorb nutrients, etc.) and on volatility of food prices. Most models projecting the future do indicate that prices will become more volatile. In 2019 the IPCC stated that millions already suffer from food insecuritydue to climate change. As of 2019, an estimated 831 million people are undernourished. Climate change impacts depend strongly on p…
Direct impacts from changing weather patterns
As the temperature and weather patterns change, areas suitable for farming will alter. The current prediction is for temperature increase and precipitation decrease for major arid and semi-arid regions (Middle East, Africa, Australia, Southwest United States, and Southern Europe). In addition, crop yields in tropical regionswill be negatively affected by the projected moderate increase in temperature (1-2 °C) expected to occur during the first half of the century. During the second hal…
Direct impacts from increased atmospheric CO2 levels
Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide affects plants in a variety of ways. Elevated CO2 increases crop yields and growth through an increase in photosynthetic rate, and it also decreases water loss as a result of stomatal closing.
Changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide may reduce the nutritionalquality of some crops, with for instance wheat having less protein and less of some minerals. Food crops could see a reductio…
Climate driven changes in pests, plant diseases and weeds (indirect impacts)
Global warming will alter pest, plant disease and weed distributions, with potential to reduce crop yields, including of staple crops like wheat, soybeans, and corn.
Currently, pathogens take 10-16% of the global harvest and this level is likely to rise as plants are at an ever-increasing risk of exposure to pests and pathogens. Warmer temperatures can increase the metabolic rateand number of breeding …
Global warming will alter pest, plant disease and weed distributions, with potential to reduce crop yields, including of staple crops like wheat, soybeans, and corn.
Currently, pathogens take 10-16% of the global harvest and this level is likely to rise as plants are at an ever-increasing risk of exposure to pests and pathogens. Warmer temperatures can increase the metabolic rateand number of breeding …
Global aggregate estimates for crop yields
Climate change induced by increasing greenhouse gases is likely to affect crops differently from region to region. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has produced several reports that have assessed the scientific literature on climate change. In 2019 the IPCC stated that millions already suffer from food insecuritydue to climate change and predicted decline in global cro…
Impacts on forests and forestry
The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report report in 2022 found that: “In the past years, tree mortality continued to increase in many parts of the world. Large pulses of tree mortality were consistently linked to warmer and drier than average conditions for forests throughout the temperate and boreal biomes. Long-term monitoring of tropical forests indicates that climate change as begun to increase tree mortality and alter regeneration. Climate related diebackhas also been observed du…
Adaptation
Adaptation in agriculture is often not policy driven, but farmers make their own decisions in response to the situation they face. Changes in management practices might be the most important adaptation option.Changes in locations of agriculture and international trade in food commodities might also contribute to adaptation efforts.
Agricultural innovation is essential to addressing the potential issues of climate change. This in…