How do industrial agriculture practices contribute to climate change
News and comments on global climate change, global warming and greenhouse effect
News and comments on global climate change, global warming and greenhouse effect
How do industrial agriculture practices contribute to climate change
they don’t…anthropogenic caused climate change has been thoroughly dis-proven.
however, they can cause various forms of pollution when certain practices are done improperly.
The primary example I’ve found is the use of man-made fertilizers, and herbicides and pesticides. Much of the use of these chemicals has affected fragile wetland and riparian habitats, particularly in areas where run-off and soil erosion is very susceptible. Excess use of fertilizers has proven unhealthy for wetland areas because of what phosphorous and nitrogen do to encourage the growth of algae. With more algae growth, more carbon dioxide enters into the ponds, sloughs and lakes, killing off the freshwater wildlife including fish and aquatic bugs and larvae. Soon these water bodies succumb to rotting foliage, and decrease in size until they are no more.
Much of the major cropping systems encourage the use of non-renewable resources in the form of petroleum-based fertilizers and fuel for trucks, tractors, and other self-propelled machinery. Use of tillage instead of no-till also acts as a carbon source instead of a sink, releasing much CO2 during spring and fall instead of keeping it in the earth.
Use of drylot to feed livestock also has negative implications on the environment. Manure accumulated over a number of months has to be hauled out to the fields, releasing large amounts of methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. No foliage in these drylots encourage soil erosion, run-off into ground water and nearby bodies of water, and bacterial soil populations like Clostridium spp., Streptococcus spp. Escheria spp. (like E. coli), etc, all could potentially pose health problems for livestock exposed to the increase in bacterial and viral soil populations. Mud accumulation is also a nasty problem livestock don’t like to deal with, but are forced to when living in a "dry"lot for the rest of their lives.