Climate Change and Farming

Climate Change and FarmingHow bad is climate change? What is the connection to Agriculture?What can we do?

How Bad Is It?

It is pretty bad!Look at the graphs at this website. They tell a story of how atmospheric carbon is increasing and global temperatures are going up too.

http://www.climate-lab-book.ac.uk/spirals/

As Carbon Dioxide has Risen, Temperatures Rise Too

Carbon is Entering the Atmosphere at an Alarming RateAs it builds in the atmosphere in the form of Carbon Dioxide and Methane, more and more of the suns heat is trapped, warming the Earth as a whole.Human Caused Sources of Atmospheric Carbon: Energy production Heating and CoolingTransportationForest Destruction and FiresPoor Farming Practices

The effects are not the same everywhereSome places are experiencing severe droughts. Other places are experiencing flooding. Storms are increasing in intensity, especially tropical storms.Wildfires are increasing.Plant and animals ranges are changing.Sea levels are rising.Oceans are acidifying.

The Albedo Feedback loopThe albedo effect, is when white objects reflect sunlight and stay cool, while dark objects absorb sunlight and warm up.As Polar Ice melts, the open ocean and land that is exposed warms much faster, which causes more warming, which melts more polar ice.

Albedo

Video of Arctic Sea Ice Changes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZovcCxftAY

The Permafrost Feedback LoopAs permafrost thaws, massive quantities of methane are released that have been frozen for thousands of years. It is unknown how much methane is stored in permafrost.Methane is 25 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases

Arctic Temps Are Warming Twice as Fast

Melting Polar Ice is Causing Sea Level Rise

Impacts on Farming Could be Even Worse Than Anything Else

Drought and Flooding is already causing food shortages. It will only get worse.

Famines and Failed Crops Cause Refugee Crises and Can also Cause Wars.

Yikes! Things are pretty bad, but here is a photo of puppy:

Better now? Maybe one more puppy photo:

Okay. Ready for more? Climate Change is happening. And Farming is one of the causes.

Tillage depletes Organic Matter: Bare Soil is Dying SoilTillage speeds up the decomposition of soil organic matter. Which off-gases carbon dioxide and methane and leaves the soil with less humus (stable organic matter).Soil with less organic matter is less fertile.Conventional farming often replaces fertility from organic matter (cover crops, mulch, or animal manure) with chemical fertilizers. Chemical fertilizer is made by burning methane. Lots of methane.

Factory Farms (CAFOs) add Carbon to the Atmosphere

Animal Agricultures Carbon FootprintA lot of Carbon is used (and taken from the soil) to produce the the grain to feed the animals (see tillage depletes organic matter).Energy is also used to heat and cool animal housing, as well as transport grain and animals.Poorly managed grazing depletes soil carbon.Animal manure and gases (cow farts) add a lot of methane (37% of total) and nitrous oxide (65% of total), both very potent potent greenhouse gases (Methane is 25 times and Nitrous Oxide is 300 times).http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/farm/hsus-fact-sheet-greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-animal-agriculture.pdf

When a Person Eats Meat they have a much Bigger Carbon Footprint than a Vegetarian.Beef and Dairy production uses ten times the land than grain or vegetable production to produce the same amount of calories. (http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/facts-on-animal-farming-and-the-environment/)Chicken production uses at least 2 to 3 times the amount of land vs vegetables.There is a movie that says Cows are causing climate change. It is called Cowspiracy. It is vegan propaganda. http://www.cowspiracy.com/

Large Scale Modern Farming using Chemical Fertilizers is Also Called Conventional Farming

Traditional vs Conventional Farming Video

Skip to the middle to see Conventional rice production.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Nhz-hIMZng

Large Scale Conventional Farming is Currently Producing Food More Cheaply than Small Scale Organic.There is an economy of scale to large tractors, large fields, chemical fertilizers, and other chemicals. This reduces the labor cost.There are government subsidies for large scale agriculture that make it even cheaper to produce.Food produced on a large scale can be produced so cheaply that it is cheaper to buy than small-scale local organic food, even if it is shipped from halfway across the world.

Depressed by Large Scale Farming? Here is a photo of a piglet on a small farm:

Large Scale Farms Are Not EVIL. It is just that the system is set up to favor methods that are impacting the climate.

What Can We Do?

We Need to Fight for a Sustainable Future

Sustainable Ag Propagandahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TRI7yeeYQQ

PermacultureUse Natural Ecosystems as a model to design food-producing sustainable systems

Grazing Can Actually Add Carbon to the SoilThe Marin Carbon Projecthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us3G-08LC68Mob Grazinghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpTHi7O66pIThe Soil Solutionhttps://sustainableworldmedia.com/the-soil-solution/

How about a Puppy?

Compost, Mulch and Cover Crops

Terra Preta (Biochar)

Buy From Local Farms

Be the change you wish to see in the world. -paraphrased GhandiChange your buying habits to support sustainable agriculture.Grow your own garden. Store carbon in your soil.Eat less meat that was raised in large scale farms.Educate yourself about the issues.Tell others about what you are doing and why.

Living the good life

But even if all the people of Marin Montessori lowered their own carbon footprint, it is still not enough!

We Need Global Change!

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret MeadHow are we going to do it?