Publication Date:
2015-10-10
Description:
Agriculture satisfies the basic need of society to produce food but must do so without undermining the world's capacity to sustain future food production and ecosystem services (Foley et al ., 2011; Rockström et al ., 2009; Foley et al ., 2005). Operating on a planet with finite resources and boundaries, agriculture must operate within three limits (Beddington et al ., 2012); 1) the quantity of food supply that can be produced under a given climate, 2) the quantity of food demanded by a growing and economically changing population, and 3) the impact of food production on the environment. Currently, agriculture and land-use change (LUC) are responsible for ~1/4 of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities (Smith et al ., 2014). As the human population grows, and is projected to move toward a more animal-based diet, it is projected that crop- and livestock production need to increase by 48% and 80% by 2050, respectively (FAO, 2006). It has been suggested that this could elevate agricultural non-CO 2 emissions 76% by 2050 relative to 1995 (Popp et al ., 2010). Yet agriculture has large potentials for mitigating climate change, even at relatively low cost (Smith et al ., 2014; Smith et al ., 2008; Nabuurs et al ., 2007; Schneider & Smith, 2009). This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Print ISSN:
1354-1013
Electronic ISSN:
1365-2486
Topics:
Biology
,
Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
,
Geography
Permalink
