Climate Change

Agricultural lands and practices contribute to the changing climate through the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which include nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and methane.

Some farming activities which contribute to GHG emissions are:

• Cultivating the soil converts carbon to carbon dioxide.
• The use of fertilizers and manure releases nitrous oxides into the atmosphere.
• Livestock operations produce methane emissions.
• Cutting down trees releases the stored carbon as carbon dioxide.

Agriculture can also help slow climate change by increasing the storage of carbon on agricultural lands. Storing (or sequestering) carbon in soil as organic matter and in trees reduces the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

In order to respond to the challenges of climate change, both mitigation and adaptation responses are needed. Mitigation efforts include actions which slow down the rate of climate change and reduce the risk of negative impacts. Adaptation involves efforts to minimize the negative impacts and identify future impacts of climate change.

Mitigation

Many beneficial practices that focus on soil and water conservation have the added benefit of being good for greenhouse gas emission reduction. Browse our beneficial practices page to find out how you can take action to reduce the negative impacts of climate change.

Adaptation

The agricultural sector is also sensitive to climate variability and extreme events such as droughts or floods. There are also significant issues related to adaptation in agricultural production that may be required due to climatic change. Changes in seasonal temperature averages and precipitation patterns may shift the location of various types of agricultural production, and will likely require changes in management to accommodate more variable weather patterns. The Drought Watch web site helps us to understand these patterns better. The site provides current maps and information about long and short term agro-climate trends.

Research

There is a need for a quantitative tool for assessing both the economic and the environmental impacts of mitigative strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Find out more about the Canadian Economic and Emissions Model for Agriculture (CEEMA). The CEEMA report is one of a series of three Technical Reports which document an integrated agro-ecological economic modelling system that can be used to simultaneously assess the economic and the greenhouse gas emission impacts of agricultural policies .

Related AAFC Documents

• The Health of our Air

Related sites

• Visit our collection of related climate change sites