greenhouse-gas

A study led by U-Minnesota scientists says emissions of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas, from Midwest streams may be much larger than thought.

Thirteen of the largest U.S. companies "are joining President Obama" to push "a slew of policies meant to curb the effects of climate change," said The Hill newspaper.

Stanford scientists say the risk of drought in California is being increased by climate change caused by human activity, reports the Contra Costa Times.

Wetlands in the upper Mississippi and Ohio River watersheds can remove up to 1,800 pounds of nitrogen per acre from field runoff, says a USDA study of the economic benefits of wetland conservation.

The Great Plains and U.S. Southwest, the hub of U.S. wheat and cattle production, will face persistent drought during the second half of this century that will be "worse than anything seen" and due primarily to climate change caused by humans, says a study by...

Eight countries in Latin America announced a project to restore 20 million hectares - 77,000 square miles - of degraded forest and farmland, says Reuters. The land would be used to store carbon in vegetation and cut emissions of greenhouse gases.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota say large-scale adoption of "traditional" diets rich in fruits, vegetables and fish would mean lower volumes of greenhouse gases than the diet that commonly accompanies rising incomes around the world...

For the most part, farmers put their cropland to more intense use rather than convert forests and grasslands because of demand for biofuels in recent years, says a study by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development.

The world's largest cereal maker, Kellogg Co, said it will reduce energy and greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent by 2020 to combat climate change.

The Agriculture Department released a report that, "for the first time, provides uniform scientific methods for quantifying the changes in greenhouse gas emissions and carbon storage from various land management and conservation activities."

Research into the grain, water and other material needed to produce food says that eating beef is 10 times more costly to the environment as other food derived from animals, such as pork or poultry, says the Weizmann Institute of Science, based in Israel. "Cattle require on average 28 times more land and 11 times more irrigation water, are responsible for releasing 5 times more greenhouse gases, and consume 6 times as much nitrogen, as eggs or poultry," says the Institute in a statement.

Over-application of nitrogen fertilizer results in a larger than previously estimated release of nitrous oxide, one of three major greenhouse gases, says research by Michigan State University appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The executive summary of a European study, "Nitrogen on the Table," says if Europe reduced its meat consumption, it "would reduce nitrogen air and water pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions, while freeing up large areas of farmland for other purposes such as food export or bioenergy."

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, forestry and fisheries "have nearly doubled over the past 50 years and could increase an additional 30% by 2050," says Feedstuffs.

Science Daily says a field test conducted by the University of California-Davis "has demonstrated that elevated levels of carbon dioxide inhibit plants' assimilation of nitrate into proteins, indicating that the nutritional quality of food crops is at risk as climate change intensifies."