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Title: AGRICULTURAL MITIGATION OF GREENHOUSE GASES: SCIENCE AND POLICY OPTIONS

Author
item PAUSTIAN, KEITH - COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY
item BABCOCK, BRUCE - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item KLING, CATHY - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item Hatfield, Jerry
item LAL, RATTAN - OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
item MCCARL, BRUCE - TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
item POST, WILFRED - NOAA, OAK RIDGE NATL LAB
item Mosier, Arvin
item RICE, CHUCK - KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
item ROBERTSON, G PHILIP - MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: National Conference on Carbon Sequestration
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/9/2001
Publication Date: 5/9/2001
Citation: PAUSTIAN, K., BABCOCK, B., KLING, C., HATFIELD, J.L., LAL, R., MCCARL, B., POST, W., MOSIER, A.R., RICE, C., ROBERTSON, G. AGRICULTURAL MITIGATION OF GREENHOUSE GASES: SCIENCE AND POLICY OPTIONS. AVAILABLE FROM: HTTP://WWW.NET1.DOE.GOV/PUBLICATIONS/PROCEEDINGS/01/CARBON-SEQ/4C2.PDF. NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CARBON SEQUESTRATION. 2001.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: With the adoption of the U.S. Framework Convention on Climate Change, calling for actions to decrease the buildup of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere, interest has grown about agriculture's role in mitigating GHG increases. Three of the major GHGs - carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4) - are emitted to and/or removed from the atmosphere in significant amounts through agricultural activity. Thus, the potential for agriculture to mitigate GHG emissions has been the subject of intensive scientific investigation the past several years. The focus of a forthcoming Council on Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) report is to summarize and synthesize the most recent research on the potential to mitigate GHG emissions through improvements in agricultural and land management practices. The report is designed to inform policy and decision makers in government and industry, agricultural producers, environmental and other nongovernmental organizations, and the general public. A major objective of the report has been to bring together biophysical and ecological information with economics and policy analysis, to provide a clearer picture of the potential role of agriculture in GHG mitigation strategies. In addition, a major aim has been to address all three major greenhouse gases and to consider the potential tradeoffs and/or synergisms between practices aimed at carbon sequestration and mitigation of N2O and CH4 emissions, in order to understand the net effect of all three gases (CO2, N2O and CH4), which can be expressed as an aggregate 'global warming potential' (GWP) value. This synthesis will inform the debate on GHG mitigation in ongoing national and international efforts to deal with global climate change.