Reducing Agriculture’s Role in Climate Change
December 19, 2023
For the first time, the United Nations’ climate summit acknowledged the major role that agriculture plays in climate change, the Guardian reports. Writing in Issues, Alan R. Townsend, Peter M. Vitousek, and Benjamin Z. Houlton were early advocates of this position, focusing particularly on the impact of nitrogen and phosphorus in fertilizers. The good news, the authors note, is that improving their use is feasible “with current knowledge and technology and without suffering major economic blows,” and would “mitigate a host of other environmental challenges, increase food security, improve human welfare, lessen some national security concerns, and probably save money.”