Climate 411

This post is by Lisa Moore, Ph.D., a scientist in the Climate and Air program at Environmental Defense.

Last month, Michael explained why we need to cut emissions as soon as possible. A new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences adds even more urgency. It says that:

• Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from fossil fuel use have accelerated since 2000, and
• Earth’s oceans may be taking up an increasingly smaller fraction of the extra CO₂.

This paper received coverage even before it was published. Now that it’s out, let’s take a closer look.

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This post is by Lisa Moore, Ph.D., a scientist in the Climate and Air program at Environmental Defense.

Yesterday’s New York Times Magazine had an article aptly titled "The Future is Drying Up", about the threats that climate change and booming populations pose to precious water resources in western states. Usually when we think of water and climate change we think of rising sea levels, but climate change is also causing drops in drinking water supplies.

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This is Part 1 of a three-part series on Food and Farming.

1. Increased CO₂ and Food Quality
2. Farm Animals and Methane
3. “Food Mile” Complexities

The authors of today’s post are Lisa Moore, Ph.D., a scientist in the Climate and Air program, and Tim Male, Ph.D., a senior ecologist in the Land, Water & Wildlife program.

For the second course in our food series, let’s start with some pie – specifically, Bill’s greenhouse gas pie showing the contribution of different greenhouses gases to global warming. The first chart shows that methane is the second largest contributor to global warming.

Globally, nearly half of that hefty methane slice comes from agriculture. What causes these emissions, and how can we reduce them?

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