How the Earth only wears: five facts about the impact of land use on climate

The attitude of people towards soil and forests will eventually lead to a climate catastrophe, experts of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) at the UN are sure. highlighted five main points of the IPCC report

In the public mind, carbon dioxide emissions are strongly associated with steel plants, coal-fired power plants, and automobiles. But this is only partly true: IPCC analysts have calculated that between 2007 and 2016, human activities related to agriculture, forestry, and other uses of the land are responsible for 23% of greenhouse gas emissions. For the three main types of these gases, land use accounts for:

• about 13% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions;
• about 44% of methane (CH4) emissions;
• about 82% of nitrogen oxide (N2O) emissions.

If, however, land use includes the entire chain of food production and consumption, and not just agriculture as such, the contribution of this type of activity to greenhouse gas emissions is estimated at the level of 21% to 37%.

The way we use the land negatively affects the climate. In turn, climate change is forcing us to think differently about how we use things, making things worse. For example, a decrease in soil fertility forces the creation of new fertilizers, new agricultural equipment, which squeezes all the juice out of the earth and simultaneously expands the amount of harmful emissions. Modern technologies cause the soil to degrade a hundred times faster than it can regenerate. If humanity does not break this circle, sliding into an ecological catastrophe is inevitable.

Climate change does not mean that closer to the poles of the planet it will become warmer and more comfortable to live. The shift of climatic zones away from the equator will change the entire ecosystem of the taiga, which will lead to more frequent droughts, forest fires and pest infestations. This is already happening. In addition, since snow is highly reflective, climate softening in the taiga will lead to thinning of the snow cover and additional heating of the soil. Again, this can be expressed in fires and floods. Of the pluses: the growing season (in fact, spring) will last in the taiga, when a sharp warming will be delayed by an increased amount of evaporation.

Changing the lifestyle of people is perhaps the main way to prevent an ecological catastrophe, the authors of the report are sure. The food industry, especially rice and livestock, produces about half of all methane emissions into the atmosphere. Nitrogen fertilizers account for 75% of the world’s nitrogen oxide emissions. This can be overcome by switching to a more balanced diet, increasing the proportion of plants and fruits in the diet, reducing the amount of consumed meat and dairy products.

Deforestation, soil degradation and desertification are spreading across the planet like an epidemic, and any delay threatens to cause the next generation of people to struggle with wider and deeper consequences. IPCC experts propose the following set of actions that authorities, business and society can start taking now:

• introduce risk management standards in land use, in agriculture in particular;
• create information systems with data on the effectiveness, dangers, side benefits of certain land use methods in certain areas;
• organize educational events on the topic of environmental protection;
• take care of the problems of food security in the world in advance, preparing for an artificial change in the diet of people and a partial rejection of meat;
• increase investment in soil conservation and restoration, create appropriate programs and funds;
• launch reforestation projects;
• organize international platforms for the transfer of knowledge and technologies.