Global agriculture and carbon trade-offs

Abstract

Significance We assess how to meet growing demand for agricultural production to minimize impact on the environment. Higher levels of population and affluence may require expanding land in agriculture by converting grasslands and forests to cropland. Such conversions often reduce valuable ecosystem services. Our research identifies where are the best places to expand agricultural production that minimize the loss of one ecosystem service, carbon storage. We show that selectively choosing where to expand agriculture saves over $1 trillion (2012 US dollars) worth of carbon storage relative to a proportional expansion.

An international comparison of rice consumption behaviours and greenhouse gas emissions from rice production

“…In order to feed them, agricultural production (including rice) should increase by 60% by the year 2050. About 80% of yield increase will come from intensification (higher yields with more fertiliser, pesticides and water inputs, multiple cropping, shorter fallow periods and improved seed varieties) and another 20% from extensification (Johnson et al, 2014). Both intensification and extensification are likely to demand more farm inputs, thus generating a larger proportion of GHG emissions (Pokhrel and Soni, 2017).…”

The environmental impact of climate change adaptation on land use and water quality

“…Integrating economic models of land use change with environmental models predicting consequent impacts on multiple ecosystem services has been a focus of considerable recent research 10,12,13,14,15 . By integrating novel land use and water quality models, our analysis examines how adaptation to climate change in agriculture is expected to affect aquatic ecosystems.…”

Global Hotspots of Conflict Risk between Food Security and Biodiversity Conservation

“…The majority of regions identified as global priorities in this study are located in the tropics, as these areas harbour greater biological diversity [41], yet 55% of new agricultural land in the tropics has come from conversion of forests [42]. As these countries tend to be poorer, less developed countries, food insecurity can be a driver of this land use change.…”