Agriculture And Climate Change

You hear a lot about climate change and global warming these days. But scientists are pointing out so many contributory habits to greenhouse gas emissions that it's almost overwhelming. You don't know how to cut down on your emissions or where you should start. When people think about greenhouse gases, images that often come to their mind are large factories or sprawling industrial complexes, but one surprising industry contributes to over half of anthropogenic greenhouse gases: agriculture. In fact, multiple studies have concluded that agriculture contributes to more GHG emissions than transportation. Why is that? Well, food in the present day for the most part is industrial. The processing and refining and cleaning involved in preparing food for consumption consume a lot of energy and release greenhouse gases as a byproduct. Livestock farms themselves are factories. Factory farms are estimated to cause the emission of 90 million tons of carbon dioxide. Factory farms aren't the only agricultural contribution to greenhouse gases, though. Food is often transported from a very far distance away, especially if one lives in an urban area distant from any farmland. Even though transportation is a comparatively minor consequence of industrial farming, it's still an issue and, more importantly, it's easily preventable. But I'll talk about that later. There is another source of GHG emissions related to farming, though, in addition to those related to the factory farms and transportation. The farm animals themselves contribute to GHG emissions. Every animal obviously has to breathe, but when animals exhale, they release carbon dioxide. Those animals would not even exist if factory farms were not so prevalent, so some argue that their exhalation should be considered anthropogenic. Over 32 billion tons of CO2 a year is exhaled by livestock which, were it not for humans, would not have been alive in the first place. Cows are also stores of methane, which is mainly released as flatulence. Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and is one of the strongest ones out there. Fermentation in rice farms also releases heavy amounts. Okay, so there are greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as a result of agriculture, but why is that an issue? The answer is: The Greenhouse Effect. The Sun sends out UV radiation that the Earth then absorbs. When a body absorbs radiation, it re-emits it as infrared radiation. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases absorb this outgoing radiation from the Earth and send it in a different direction, often forcing it back to the surface of the Earth and trapping it. The radiation will continue to be absorbed by the Earth, warming its surface. Agriculture changes climate in another fundamental aspect in addition to GHG emissions—it alters the local ecosystem around the farm. See, farms are giant living systems, and US subsidies favor dangerous practices like monocropping. This is the practice of growing only one crop on a farm, and due to such a large expanse of only one species, the farm is more susceptible to disease and its biodiversity is reduced, weakening the planet's natural regulatory systems. Not to mention that what would have probably been in the farm's place is a deciduous forest or temperate grassland, the losses of which release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and contribute to global species loss. Changing ecosystems in such a drastic manner does fundamentally alter the landscape of the planet. So, what can you do to help? For one, eat locally, which reduces GHG emissions related to transportation. You can also buy from small farms or farmers' markets. Since the real environmental dangers related to traditional farming are the industrial byproducts, buying from local farmers ensures that there are no unnecessary emissions. Another solution, though perhaps less feasible, is to eat less meat! Meat requires more processing and cleansing than other sources of food do. It also requires more water, because not only do the animals need water, but the things they eat (like soy and corn) need water, too. It's as if water is wasted, in the sense that the soy and the corn do not ever see a human mouth. You certainly don't have to give up meat entirely, but the less you eat, the healthier the planet will be! These charts show the steps in the production of a non-animal food product like grain or vegetables compared to the production of a pork product. With each step, more energy is expended and more greenhouse gases are emitted. The general solution is to just stay aware of the hidden costs of what you're eating so that you know what impact you have on the Earth.