Future Farmers Hold Environment’s Fate in Their Hands

Future Farmers Hold Environment’s Fate in Their Hands - Yahoo! News:

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Global food demand will double by 2050, according to a new projection, and the farming techniques used to meet that unprecedented demand will significantly determine how severe the impact is on the environment, researchers say.

The study researchers warn that meeting the demand for food will clear more land, increase nitrogen use and significantly add to carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. These actions could harm the atmosphere and cause the extinction of numerous species, they say.

"Agriculture's greenhouse gas emissions could double by 2050 if current trends in global food production continue," study researcher David Tilman, of the University of Minnesota, said in a statement. "This would be a major problem, since global agriculture already accounts for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions."