Air: Greenhouse gases from agriculture

Agriculture and land use make a major contribution to the global emissions of greenhouse gases. Three gases are important;nitrous oxide, methane, and carbon dioxide. Nitrous oxide emissions are primarily as a result of the application ofnitrogen-based fertilizers and manures. Agricultural methane emissions are derived mostly from ruminant livestock andrice production, and carbon dioxide emissions are associated mainly with changes in land use. In the coming decades, therewill be pressure on global agricultural systems to increase the production of food to feed the world’s growing population;however, this will need to be achieved in ways that are compatible with international climate change agreements that requiregreenhouse gas mitigation from agricultural systems.