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Between 2001 and 2011, emission of carbon dioxide from crops and livestock rose 14 per cent---from 4.7 billion tonnes to 5.3 billion tonnes---, showed data compiled by the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
In its first report on greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, forestry and other land use, FAO attributed the increase in global carbon dioxide emissions to a significant spurt in agricultural output in developing countries. The report showed emissions from agriculture, forestry and fisheries nearly doubled through the past fifty years; by 2050, these could increase 30 per cent, if immediate efforts to stop these aren’t taken.
Net greenhouse gas emissions due to change in land use and deforestation fell 10 per cent in the 2001-2010 period, averaging about three billion tonnes a year of carbon dioxide. This resulted from reduced deforestation and a rise in the amount of atmospheric carbon being sequestered in many countries. Net forest conversion to other lands (deforestation) resulted in the release of four billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year into the environment. The release of another billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year was recorded from degraded peat lands, while an average 0.2 billion tonnes was released due to biomass fires.
During the 2001-2011 period, about two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year were removed from the atmosphere as a result of carbon sequestration in forest sinks. FAO said the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture was enteric fermentation---when methane is produced by livestock during digestion and released via belches. In 2011, this accounted for 39 per cent of the sector’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions from enteric fermentation increased 11 per cent between 2001 and 2011. Emissions during the application of synthetic fertilisers accounted for 14 per cent of agricultural emissions (725 million tonnes of carbon dioxide) in 2011; this is the fastest-growing emission source in agriculture, having increased 37 per cent since 2001. Greenhouse gases resulting from biological processes in rice paddies, which generate methane, account for 10 per cent of total agricultural emissions, while the burning of savannahs accounts for five per cent.
In 2011, 45 per cent of agriculture-related greenhouse gas emissions were recorded in Asia, followed by the Americas (25 per cent), Africa (15 per cent), Europe (11 per cent), and Oceania (four per cent). This distribution was fairly constant through the 2001-2011 period. In 1990, however, Asia’s contribution to the global figure was less (38 per cent), while Europe’s was much higher (21 per cent).
