Climate Change and Agriculture in Europe

Climate Change and Agriculture in Europe

Agriculture is one of the most significant contributors to the economy of many states. Due to the importance of the practice, many nationalists take to it.  Over recent years, there has been an increase in global climate change due to the activities that people are involved in. One of the contributors is the greenhouse gases, industrialization, among others. This paper explains the relationship between agricultural activities in Europe and their impact on climate change.

Fellmann, T., Witzke, P., Weiss, F., Doorslaer, V.B., Drabik, D., Huck, I., Salputra, G., Jansson, T., &Leip, A. (2018).  Mitigation and adaptation strategies global change. Springer Netherlands, 23: 451. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-017-9743-2

The article is an explanation of the effects that Agriculture has in the production of greenhouse gases such as methane (CH₄) and Nitrous Oxide (N₂O). The gases are emitted from fertilizer usage, animal manures and burning of the crop remains in open areas. The accumulation of such gases enhance the formation of acid rain, and in return, the agricultural sector is a; also affected significantly..

It also explains the effects that the emissions have on agriculture. Crop production reduces as the emission of the gases increases, and the vice versa is also true. A reduction in the production of crops increases the prices in Europe since the demand is higher. The livestock industryhas also been mentioned above as one of the contributors to the emissions. It s also affected similarly to the crop production segment. The article is also mainly focused on Europe with only once ion a while mentions of outside nations, especially inglobal comparison.

Meyers, S.S., Smith, R.M., Guth, S., Golden, D.C., Vaitla, B., Mueller, D.N., Dangour, D.A., & security and undernutrition. The Annual Review of Public Health 38:259–77.Huybers, P. (2017). Climate change and global food systems: Potential impacts on food

http://environment.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/climate_change_and_global_food_systems_impacts_on_food_security_and_undernutrition.pdf

The second article begins by explaining the importance of agriculture in ensuring that all the people are well fed. By explaining the means that the global food demand is met in agriculture ever since the historical times and continues to claim that the demand is expected to rise in future. It, however, notes that over the past few decades, there has been a significant increase in the global production of agriculture. It also explains the climate has a significant influence on agriculture. Change in climate all over the world means that the alteration of growing crops is incurred. Even though there has been an increase in production, the quality of the food is dependent on the climatic conditions of the place they are grown. The article explains that there has been a significant increase in global temperatures over the globe due to the production of greenhouse gases. It is estimated that Carbondioxide would also increase over time due to industrialization. Increase in temperatures increases the formation of ground-level ozone due to the rise in temperatures. This affects the growth of crops and makes it hard for certain crops to survive. Some influencers such as pests, pathogens nitrogen-fixing bacteria are also affected by temperature rises, and some results such as ocean acidification are bound to happen. The effects of having food shortages include conflict and an increase in the price of staple foods.

Harvey .F. (2019), Climate Change. Benefits to farmers of global heating outweighed by losses. The guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/04/benefits-to-farmers-of-global-heating-outweighed-by-losses-says-report

In the third article, the effects of having many temperature changes in Europe. There are cases of the agricultural sector suffering from many drastic changes seen in Europe. One of the changes in the weather pattern, such as long droughts that have been experienced all over the nation. Another factor is the excessive rainfall that is falling in the UK. The climate changes make it hard to predict the oncoming weather patterns to the benefits of the farmers. In the previous years, one could count on the weather pattern to decide when to plant or harvest. It also explains that there s an expected increase in the food prices in the future.

EU Science Hub (2019). Climate change to impact European agriculture as climate zones migrate north – EU Science Hub – European Commission. [online] EU Science Hub – European Commission. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/science-update/climate-change-impact-european-agriculture-climate-zones-migrate-north [Accessed 25 February. 2020].

A fourth article explains the impact of tha extreme weather has on the climate of the nation. One of them is the incurrence of economic losses in the nation. It is considering that many sectors that depend on the agricultural areas, a slight impact affects the whole economy. I also suggest that new methods need to be adapted to ensure that climate change does not have as many losses as it does now. Finally, the source highlights the effects that agriculturehas on climate, such as the production of greenhouse gases.

Council, W. (2012). How does agriculture contribute to climate change?. [online] World Future Council. Available at: https://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/how-does-agriculture-contribute-to-climate-change/ [Accessed 25 February. 2020].

On a different aspect, different activities are known to lead to climate change in several ways. One of them is deforestation.  People are invading areas that were meant to be forested to find areas to farm. This leads to lower amounts of rainfall hence prolonged droughts. Accelerated soil erosion also occurs, making the soil-less fertile for tree growth. Like previous articles, it also explains the effects of the animals in the production of greenhouse gases.

PERRONE, T. (2020). How agriculture and climate change are related: causes and effects – LifeGate. LifeGate. Retrieved 25 February 25 February 2020, from https://www.lifegate.com/people/news/agriculture-and-climate-change-causes-effects-impacts.

This article suggests some of the cures to the negative effects that climate has on agriculture. One of the methods is agroecology. This is the creation of sustainable plans that help in feeding the current population and at the same time, ensure that the futures activities are not negatively impacted. It is aimed at the scientific study and proper analysis of the means that the climatic and agricultural factors relate to each other. From there a rational decision is reached and a measure or plan set for the future and the present farming activities.

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Iisd.org. Retrieved 25 February 25 February 2020, from https://www.iisd.org/pdf/agriculture_climate.pdf.

Finally, the article explains that the main reason that there are drastic climate changes is due to the increase in demand for foods. An increase in population leads to more need for food. In Europe, the effect is that more greenhouses are made, and more land is needed to fulfil the demand. The best means to solve the issue is by ensuring that sustainable measures are taken to ensure that the population is fed. Yet, the environment is maintained at an optimum balance. One such measure is growing drought-resistant crops. It means that little climate change will be incurred and no need for extra land will be created.

References

Council, W. (2012). How does agriculture contribute to climate change?. [online] World Future Council. Available at: https://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/how-does-agriculture-contribute-to-climate-change/ [Accessed 25 February. 2020].

EU Science Hub (2019). Climate change to impact European agriculture as climate zones migrate north – EU Science Hub – European Commission. [online] EU Science Hub – European Commission. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/science-update/climate-change-impact-european-agriculture-climate-zones-migrate-north [Accessed 25 February. 2020].

Fellmann, T., Witzke, P., Weiss, F., Doorslaer, V.B., Drabik, D., Huck, I., Salputra, G., Jansson, T., &Leip, A. (2018).  Mitigation and adaptation strategies global change. Springer Netherlands, 23: 451. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-017-9743-2

Meyers, S.S., Smith, R.M., Guth, S., Golden, D.C., Vaitla, B., Mueller, D.N., Dangour, D.A., & security and undernutrition. The Annual Review of Public Health 38:259–77.Huybers, P. (2017). Climate change and global food systems: Potential impacts on food http://environment.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/climate_change_and_global_food_systems_impacts_on_food_security_and_undernutrition.pdf

Harvey .F. (2019), Climate Change. Benefits to farmers of global heating outweighed by losses. The guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/04/benefits-to-farmers-of-global-heating-outweighed-by-losses-says-report

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Iisd.org. Retrieved 25 February 25 February 2020, from https://www.iisd.org/pdf/agriculture_climate.pdf.

PERRONE, T. (2020). How agriculture and climate change are related: causes and effects – LifeGate. LifeGate. Retrieved 25 February 25 February 2020, from https://www.lifegate.com/people/news/agriculture-and-climate-change-causes-effects-impacts.