Agriculture
Agriculture is highly exposed to climate change, as agricultural and livestock activities are directly dependent on climatic conditions. Agricultural activity contributes to climate change by releasing two powerful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere:
- Methane (CH4) – released by ruminants. Cows, sheep and goats have a special stomach to ferment and better digest their food with the help of bacteria. Unfortunately, this process also produces a lot of methane. The ruminant manure also contains large amounts of methane. Overall, livestock methane emissions account for about 35 percent of total human methane emissions. Scientists are conducting research to change the diet of ruminants so that they produce less methane, and some inventors have proposed methods for recycling manure using methane to produce energy.
- Nitric oxide (N2O) – released as a result of the use of organic and mineral nitrogen fertilizers.
The most common climate change impacts on agricultural activity are:
Floods – In recent years, there has been an increase in floods in many countries around the world. Rising sea levels are also increasing the frequency and intensity of floods on farms in coastal regions. These costly floods are devastating crops and livestock, accelerating soil erosion, polluting water and damaging roads, bridges, schools and other infrastructure.
Droughts – Too little water can be just as harmful as too much. Severe droughts have caused a severe blow to crops, livestock and farmers in many parts of the world over the past decade. Scientists predict that rising temperatures are likely to lead to new droughts, depletion of water supplies and, in some cases, forest fires devastation.
Changes in the viability of crops and livestock – Agricultural workers choose crop varieties and animal breeds that are suitable for local conditions. With these conditions changing rapidly in the coming decades, many farmers will be forced to rethink the activities they have practiced so far. This would mean: the need for new capital investments, targeting at new varieties of crops and animal breeds, finding new markets and orientation to new production practices.
New pests, pathogens and weed problems – Just as farmers will have to turn to new crops, livestock and practices, so they will have to deal with new threats. Insects or weeds that have not been able to thrive in more northern regions over the past decades can find suitable conditions and spread to hitherto unusual places. This means that farmers will also have to adapt.
Along with the direct impacts of climate change on agriculture and livestock, there are also indirect impacts related to the nature of agricultural practices:
- Degraded soils – Growing monocultures leaves the soil bare for most of the year, as it relies on regular plowing and application of synthetic agrochemicals. This practice leaves soils low in organic matter and prevents the formation of deep and complex root systems. As a result, the soil acquires reduced water retention capacity (which worsens the effects of drought) and increased vulnerability to erosion and water pollution (which worsens the effects of floods).
- Simplified landscapes – Industrial agriculture treats arable land as a crop plant (with minimal biodiversity over large areas) and not as a managed ecosystem. This lack of diversity changes the viability of crops, contributes to the stronger entry of pests and thus increases the risk of adverse effects of climate change on crops.
Climate change is also likely to have socio-economic consequences for agricultural workers and their families:
- As the summer heat intensifies, farmers will face increasingly exhausting and potentially dangerous working conditions.
- The need for production insurance or application for financial assistance compensating losses caused by floods, droughts or fires will make agricultural families more dependent on financial and administrative institutions.
- Agricultural communities will be among the first to feel the adverse effects of climate change on their backs.
Declining agricultural productivity or sudden losses of crops and livestock are likely to have ripple effects on the rest of society, including rising food prices and greater food insecurity.
However, agriculture can help mitigate the effects of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions - by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen through the process of photosynthesis, while maintaining the production of food of vegetative origin.
The impact of climate change is being felt in European agriculture as a result of:
- change of precipitation models;
- increase of temperature;
- variability of the annual seasons;
- increase of extreme weather events, such as heat waves, droughts, storms and floods.
Human societies and ecosystems in Europe are vulnerable to major impacts of climate change, such as river floods, droughts or coastal floods. Even if some climate change may be positive for some northern European regions, most will be negative, affecting regions that are already suffering from environmental or other changes. The combination of different types of anthropological impacts and climate change can increase the vulnerability of many regions. Agriculture will be most affected in the southern and south-eastern regions of the EU.
Related profession
