(GRE) GROWING FOOD, GROWING EMISSIONS

Methane has highly detrimental impacts on the planet, with the food system – particularly livestock – the main emitter of the gas. What can we do about it?

When we talk about greenhouse gas emissions, many of us are really just talking about carbon emissions. And it makes sense – carbon dioxide is responsible for 75% of global warming.

But we often overlook methane (CH4), a gas contributing to a further 20% of warming. Its impact may have been even bigger since the Industrial Revolution, with scientists saying it’s made up 30% of total warming since that period.

However, unlike carbon, the largest source of anthropogenic methane emissions isn’t fossil fuel production – it’s the food system. Agriculture already accounts for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. Nearly half of these come from carbon dioxide, and 35% are from methane.

Methane emissions are rising faster than ever before, growing by as much as 20% between 2000 and 2020. And if we don’t take any action, human-caused methane emissions will rise by up to 13% between 2020 and 2030, taking the world in the opposite direction on the path to 1.5°C.

So addressing methane is critical to the climate fight. According to the UNEP, anthropogenic methane emissions can be cut by 45% within the decade, which alone would avert almost 0.3°C of temperature rises by 2045.

With the food system’s outsized impact on methane – and vice-versa – it is vital to consider just what we can do to fix the situation, and what solutions companies and governments are looking into. More of this article (green queen) - link - more like this (methane) - link - more like this (animal gas) - link