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Biogeochemistry

Agriculture and the global carbon cycle

Nature volume 515, pages 351–352 (2014)Cite this article

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Evolving agricultural practices dramatically increased crop production in the twentieth century. Two studies now find that this has altered the seasonal flux of atmospheric carbon dioxide. See Letters p.394 & p.398

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere undergoes seasonal, cyclic variation, the amplitude of which has increased by up to 50% in the Northern Hemisphere over the past 50 years1,2. Several factors have been proposed to explain this increase3,4,5, including the response of the terrestrial biosphere to climate change, increased fossil-fuel emissions, and changes in oceanic fluxes and atmospheric transport of CO2, but the relative magnitude and latitudinal contribution of each are still debated. In two studies published in this issue, Gray et al.6 (page 398) and Zeng et al.7 (page 394) reveal that intensification of agriculture has contributed substantially to this trend.

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Figure 1: Agricultural revolution.

Rui Dias-Aidos/Thinkstock

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natasha MacBean and Philippe Peylin are at the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, L'Orme des Merisiers, 91191 Gif sur Yvette, France.,

    Natasha MacBean & Philippe Peylin

Authors
  1. Natasha MacBean
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  2. Philippe Peylin
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Correspondence to Natasha MacBean.

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MacBean, N., Peylin, P. Agriculture and the global carbon cycle. Nature 515, 351–352 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/515351a

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