A latest report has said that the increase in productivity and yields of crops has also an adverse impact on the world atmosphere. They study has found that the increased farm productivity is increasing the carbon dioxide level substantially. So it is not just mills and vehicles and other electronic products like refrigerators that up the pollution, even crops too increase the pollution level in the atmosphere.I am sure scientists who have been working to find the answer of reducing the CO2 level from the atmosphere must be feeling puzzled over the latest study. But to be true despite the fact that they add to the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere, they can breathe easy as it is not going to be very substantial and no match of other sources contribute.
Farms across the world have become all the more efficient, more especially in the West. Now there is substantially higher yield compared to anytime in the past. But these increased crops yield also means that they emit more CO2 in the air. Lead author Mark Friedl of Boston University says “Over last 50 years, area of croplands in the Northern Hemisphere has been relatively stable, but production has intensified enormously. The fact that this land area can affect the composition of the atmosphere is an amazing fingerprint of human activity on the planet”.This study is going to be very interesting and is inviting lots of attention. Mark Friedl says that they have closely monitored how the carbon dioxide level goes up in the Northern Hemisphere during summers year after year. He says that this is caused due to the fact that these plants take CO2 to convert sunlight into food. Liz Blood of National Science Foundation while elaborating the findings of the latest study says, “This study shows the power of modeling and data mining in addressing potential sources contributing to seasonal changes in carbon dioxide. It points to the role of basic research in finding answers to complex problems”. Blood is the program director for the National Science Foundation’s Macro Systems Biology Program. This organization also funded the study.But the researchers have paid more attention to just four crops.
According to the findings of the study corn, rice, wheat and soybean are the crops that actually emit the highest amount of CO2 level in the air as far as the Northern Hemisphere is concerned. They claim that these crops function as sponge for CO2 and this effect seems to have become bigger due to the fact that we have experienced rapid advancements in agricultural techniques, leading to more production.
Source: www.nvonews.com November22, 2014