Ag Production and the Environment

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Ag Production and the Environment

• Text extracted from
• The World Food Problem
• Leathers Foster, 2004

http//www.lastfirst.net/images/product/R004548.jp
g
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Erosion

• Soil removed by
• Wind
• water
• Agricultural cause
• Plowing
• bare fields
• Absence of roots

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Wind Erosion
http//soils.usda.gov/use/worldsoils/mapindex/eros
wind.jpg
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Water Erosion
http//soils.usda.gov/use/worldsoils/landdeg/paper
s/ersnfig1.jpg
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Chemical Degradation of Soil

• Nutrient depletion
• Especially if same crop grown every year
• Salinization
• Irrigation with low levels of salt
• Salt build up when dries
• Acidification
• Too much fertilizer
• Drainage problems
• Pollutants
• Oil
• Pesticides

Salinization
http//www.ciseau.org/cds_upload/1118333201256_Tha
ilande.png
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Physical degradation of soil

• Less porous
• Compaction by
• Heavy machines
• Animals
• Water logging
• Roots die
• Due to
• Over irrigation
• Poor drainage

Soil compaction
http//www.dpi.vic.gov.au/CA25677D007DC87D/LUbyDes
c/Puggedsoil/File/PUGGED-1.jpg
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Extent of Land Degradation

• 38 total cropland degraded worldwide
• 2 billion hectares
• 83 by erosion
• 12 chemical
• 5 physical
• 5-10 million new hectares
• degraded each year
• New land must be put into production to
  compensate
• Generally poor quality

Overgrazed degraded soil
http//farm3.static.flickr.com/2097/2138777732_5aa
323c591.jpg?v0
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http//soilerosion.net/image/glasod.gif
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Irrigation Problems

• Water Quality degradation
• Salt-water intrusion in coastal areas due to
  lower water table
• Leeches salt into groundwater unusable
• Runoff carries fertilizer, pesticide residues
• Land degradation
• SoilErosion
• Waterlogging
• Salinization
• acidification

Irrigation in Uzbekistan
http//www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0409e/A0409E15.jpg
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Ag Chemicals

• Can lead to
• Land degradation
• Water pollution
• Health problems
• Chemical manufacture can be dangerous
• Explosion at fertilizer plant in Bhopal India in
  1984
• Killed thousands

Union Carbide Chemical Plant, Bhopal India
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Fertilizer Runoff Hypoxia

• Hypoxia
• Dead zone in rivers, lakes, oceans
• N and P fertilizer runoff cause algae growth
• Algal bloom removes dissolved oxygen
• Result nothing grows

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Carrying Capacity

• How many people can earth support?
• Carrying capacity
• Limitations on
• Agricultural land
• Fresh water
• Waste assimilation

http//www.lunaroutpost.com/gallery/earth/images/g
lobe_west_2048.tif.jpg
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David Pimentel

• Believes carrying capacity has already been
  exceeded
• Earth can support 2 billion
• at high standard of living
• Current yields not sustainable

http//ipmworld.umn.edu/vitae/mug/pdmug.gif
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Julian Simon

• Optimistic about future ag production
• Technology will solve problems
• Drip Irrigation
• Fish Farming
• GMOs for
• Pest resistance
• Drought resistance
• Salt resistance

http//www.indefenceofliberty.org/admin/thumbnail/
julian.jpg
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Fish the Blue Revolution

• World fish stocks fully exploited
• No future increases in wild capture
• Aquaculture increasing
• Developing nations
• China
• Developing nations by 2020
• 79 World population
• 77 World fish consumption

http//photos.mongabay.com/07/world_fish_1950-2000
-400.jpg
http//www.ifpri.org/pressrel/2003/20031002.htm
http//news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/04
/sci_nat_feeding_the_world/img/5.jpg
http//photos.mongabay.com/07/world_fish_1950-2000
-400.jpg
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Fish the Blue Revolution
http//www.theglobaleducationproject.org/earth/ima
ge.php?imagef-fisheries-map-lg.giftitleglobal2
0aquaculture
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Global Warming

• Agriculture contributes to global warming
• CO2 released from plant decomposition
• CO2 80 greenhouse gases
• No-till Ag releases less CO2
• Methane released from rice paddies
• Methane 23 x warming impact of CO2
• Nitrous Oxide (NO) released from fertilizer use
• NO 296 x warming impact of CO2

http//picturethis.pnl.gov/PictureT.nsf/All/6GPMKU
?opendocument
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Global Warming

• Livestock contribute to GW
• Produce 18 of total greenhouse gasses
• (Cars, Airplanes, Trains, Boats total 13)
• 1.3 billion cattle in world
• Occupy 1/3 earths landmass
• 20 lb CO2 produced per pound of beef
• Cattle Belching produces methane
• 200L/d/cow methane
• 5 of planets greenhouse gasses
• Manure produces Nitrous Oxide (NO)
• Deforestation to support livestock
• Grazing land
• Crop land to grow feed
• 70 of former forest in Latin America is grazing
  land

http//www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/01/22/cow2_
wideweb__470x277,0.jpg
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Global Cattle Distribution
All densities are in heads per square Kilometer.
http//agtr.ilri.cgiar.org/Maps/distributionMaps/S
pecies/Cattle.htm
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Global Cattle Distribution
Global livestock production is projected to
double by 2050
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http//gristmill.grist.org/images/admin/globalghg.
jpg
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http//facweb.furman.edu/mhuntsberger/blogs/com40
spring08/b/wp-content/uploads/global_warming_predi
ctions_map_2.jpg
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Ice melt in Greenland
http//heartspring.net/images/greenland_ice_melt.j
pg
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Global Warming

• Impact on Agriculture
• Flooding of coastal land
• ½ of world population lives within 120 miles of
  the coast
• Affect crop yields
• Increase CO2
• Boosts crop growth
• Increase water-use efficiency
• Increase extreme weather
• Increase insects, disease
• Shift climate zones
• Northern regions better
• Tropical regions worse
• Developing countries

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Impact on Agriculture
http//www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2008/03/
images/cline5.gif
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Impact on Agriculture
http//earthtrends.wri.org/images/climate_change_a
gricultural_potential.jpg
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USA biggest CO2 emitter
http//www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/connections_
n2/climate_n2/emissions.gif
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Ethical Issue

• Global warming is caused primarily by CO2
• from industrial development in the first world
• Is it morally acceptable that the developing
  world will suffer more negative effects from
  global warming
• Without having benefited from the fossil fuels
  that caused the problem.

http//jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/imageSnag/468_pollut
ion.jpg
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Solving Global Warming
http//www.zzilch.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008
/03/combating-global-warming-map.jpg
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Bioenergy

• Potential
• Reduce CO2 emissions
• Plants fix CO2
• Sustainable
• If use perrennial switchgrass
• Profits for farmers
• Worldwide
• Energy for poor
• Worldwide

http//www.iowaswitchgrass.com/__images/Switchgras
s-Graphic_800.jpg
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Bioenergy Problems

• Competes with food production
• Agricultural land diverted
• Food prices rise worldwide
• Hurts poor hardest
• Undernutrition
• Ethanol from maize increases CO2 production
• Farming uses fossil fuel
• Less soybeans planted in U.S.
• Tropical forests destroyed to plant soybeans in
  Brazil.
• Net loss of ability to fix CO2
• Biodiesel from oil palm and soybeans destroys
  rainforests
• Oil palm plantations in S.E. Asia
• Soybean planting in Brazil

Oil Palm Plantation, Indonesia
http//image.guim.co.uk/Guardian/environment/galle
ry/2008/apr/01/biofuels/GD5160468_at_This-undated-pho
to-sh-509.jpg
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http//media.townhall.com/Townhall/Car/b/20080421R
Z1AP-BiofuelGauge.jpg
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http//cranialcavity.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/e
thanolcomic.jpg
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Bioenergy benefits and challenges
http//www.fao.org/clim/docs/CDROM/docs/Bioenergy/
Bioenergy_Facts_and_Figures_01.pdf
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Bioenergy plusses and minuses
http//www.fao.org/clim/docs/CDROM/docs/Bioenergy/
Bioenergy_Facts_and_Figures_01.pdf