Agriculture's contribution to climate change and role in mitigation is distinct from predominantly fossil CO2-emitting sectors

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dc.contributor.authorLynch, John
dc.contributor.authorCain, Michelle
dc.contributor.authorFrame, David
dc.contributor.authorPierrehumbert, Raymond
dc.date.accessioned2021-03-02T14:35:56Z
dc.date.available2021-03-02T14:35:56Z
dc.date.issued2021-02-03
dc.description.abstractAgriculture is a significant contributor to anthropogenic global warming, and reducing agricultural emissions—largely methane and nitrous oxide—could play a significant role in climate change mitigation. However, there are important differences between carbon dioxide (CO2), which is a stock pollutant, and methane (CH4), which is predominantly a flow pollutant. These dynamics mean that conventional reporting of aggregated CO2-equivalent emission rates is highly ambiguous and does not straightforwardly reflect historical or anticipated contributions to global temperature change. As a result, the roles and responsibilities of different sectors emitting different gases are similarly obscured by the common means of communicating emission reduction scenarios using CO2-equivalence. We argue for a shift in how we report agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and think about their mitigation to better reflect the distinct roles of different greenhouse gases. Policy-makers, stakeholders, and society at large should also be reminded that the role of agriculture in climate mitigation is a much broader topic than climate science alone can inform, including considerations of economic and technical feasibility, preferences for food supply and land-use, and notions of fairness and justice. A more nuanced perspective on the impacts of different emissions could aid these conversationsen_UK
dc.identifier.citationLynch J, Cain M, Frame D, Pierrehumbert R. (2021) Agriculture's contribution to climate change and role in mitigation is distinct from predominantly fossil CO2-emitting sectors. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, Volume 4, February 2021, Article number 518039en_UK
dc.identifier.issn2571-581X
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2020.518039
dc.identifier.urihttp://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/16423
dc.language.isoenen_UK
dc.publisherFrontiersen_UK
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.subjectnitrous oxideen_UK
dc.subjectmethaneen_UK
dc.subjectCO2en_UK
dc.subjectclimate policyen_UK
dc.subjectclimate changeen_UK
dc.subjectagricultureen_UK
dc.titleAgriculture's contribution to climate change and role in mitigation is distinct from predominantly fossil CO2-emitting sectorsen_UK
dc.typeArticleen_UK
dcterms.dateAccepted2020-12-14

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