How is agriculture affecting the climate?

The biggest emitter of planet warming greenhouse gas is agriculture. In 2017, the agriculture sector emitted over 20 Mt CO2eq (million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent) into the Earth’s atmosphere. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) predicts that due to increasing dairy herd numbers, emissions from agriculture will continue to grow in 2020 and 2030. Over half of all emissions from agriculture come from cows belching and the process of enteric fermentation (releasing chemical methane (CH4) as a byproduct. Other GHG chemicals like N2O (nitrous oxide) also come from the agriculture sector, and has a global warming potential 298 times greater than carbon dioxide.

The world’s food supply is at a threat by climate change and the production of food is making global warming worse.

UN experts predict that if people cut down eating meat and moved towards a more plant-based diet (vegetarianism or vegan), then people could be fed using less land.