Greenhouse gas emissions and industrial facilities have been blamed by the United Nations and world governments all over for their negative contributions to climate change, however, a new study now shows that four different types of crops, corn, rice, wheat and soybean, are actually playing a large role in the climate change around the world.
It’s a remarkable story of what we’ve done in agriculture in general. And particular in corn, which is one crop that’s just exploded. Over the last 50 years, the area of croplands in the Northern Hemisphere has been relatively stable, but production has intensified enormously. The fact that this land area can affect the composition of the atmosphere is an amazing fingerprint of human activity on the planet.
Mark Friedl
The website The Westside Story recently posted about this matter the following: “Scientists found that it is true that crops require carbon dioxide for respiration and to manufacture their food, but they do not burn up this element before their deaths; they store it. Carbon dioxide is therefore re-released into the soil when these crops die, and this ultimately makes carbon dioxide to find its way back into the environment”.
Researcher Mark Friedl, from the University of Boston, also said the following about the matter: “It’s a remarkable story of what we’ve done in agriculture in general. And particular in corn, which is one crop that’s just exploded. Over the last 50 years, the area of croplands in the Northern Hemisphere has been relatively stable, but production has intensified enormously. The fact that this land area can affect the composition of the atmosphere is an amazing fingerprint of human activity on the planet.”
According to the website The Christian Science Monitor: “Friedl’s research establishes one fact: the return of CO2 via dead crops like corn to the earth enriches the soil and makes it more fertile and efficient for further crops. The soil yields more crops per acre, even though more carbon dioxide gas is still released during winter via the soil to the earth.”
Researcher Friedl also pointed out that: “Something is changing about this cycle. Ecosystems are becoming more productive, pulling in more atmospheric carbon during the summer and releasing more during the dormant period.”
Tom Torgerson, the director for The National Science Foundation’s Water Sustainability and Climate Program, said: “These indications of increased productivity speak well for agriculture. But such enhanced agricultural productivity makes significant demands on water supplies, which will requeire frther investigation.”
We will keep you updated on any further information pertaining to this topic.
This archive content was originally published November 23, 2014 (www.betawired.com)