NPR

To Slow Global Warming, U.N. Warns Agriculture Must Change

The way we produce food and manage land must change radically if humans hope to avoid catastrophic global temperature rise, according to a new report by the United Nations panel on climate change.

Humans must drastically alter food production in order to prevent the most catastrophic effects of global warming, according to a new report from the United Nations panel on climate change.

The panel of scientists looked at the climate change effects of agriculture, forestry and other land use, such as harvesting peat and managing grasslands and wetlands. Together, those activities generate about a third of human greenhouse gas emissions, including more than 40 percent of methane.

That's important because at trapping heat in the atmosphere. And the problem is only getting more severe.

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